Write a reflective journal entry describing an “Aha!” moment of learning you experienced or important insight you gained during this module. Be specific and provide concrete examples. Cite (from the Learning Resources) your own investigation online and in the Walden Library, and call on your personal and professional experiences to support your ideas. Explain what stood out to you from this module’s Assignments and/or Discussions. Be specific, and provide concrete examples.
RESOURCES ATTACHED
Online formative assessment in higher education: Its pros and cons
Zwelijongile Gaylard Baleni
Centre for Learning and Teaching Development, Walter Sisulu University, South Africa
zbaleni@wsu.ac.za
Abstract: Online and blended learning have become common educational strategy in higher education. Lecturers have to
re-theorise certain basic concerns of teaching, learning and assessment in non-traditional environments. These concerns
include perceptions such as cogency and trustworthiness of assessment in online environments in relation to serving the
intended purposes, as well as understanding how formative assessment operates within online learning environment. Of
importance also is the issue of how formative assessment benefits both the student learning and teaching within
pedagogical strategies in an online context. This paper’s concern is how online formative assessment provides teaching and
learning as well as how lecturers and students benefit from it. A mixed method questionnaire on formative assessment
with a main focus on how formative assessment within online contexts operates was used to collect data from courses
using Blackboard. Lecturers and students at a comprehensive university were the population. Various techniques for
formative assessment linked with online tools such as discussion forums and objective tests were used. The benefits that
were famous comprise improvement of student commitment, faster feedback, enhanced flexibility around time and place
of taking the assessment task and importance in the procedure for students and lecturers also benefited with less marking
time and saved on administrative costs. The crucial findings are that effective online formative assessment can nurture a
student and assessment centred focus through formative feedback and enrich student commitment with valued learning
experiences. Ongoing trustworthy assessment tasks and interactive formative feedback were identified as significant
features that will deal with intimidations to rationality and trustworthiness within the milieu of online formative
assessment.
Keywords: online formative assessment, formative feedback, student engagement, learning
1. Introduction
Assessment for learning (formative assessment) has been noticeable intonation in assessment circles rather
than assessment of learning (summative assessment) but the main focus has shifted; the use of online and
blended learning has developed drastically in the 21st century higher education learning and teaching
environment. Larreamendy-Joerns and Leinhardt (2006, 572) literature review “observed two complementary
movements in the educational landscape: the merging of online teaching and learning into the stream of
everyday practices at universities, and the increasingly salient role of distance programmes in institutions of
higher education”. In an online setting, the non-existence of physical space and face-to-face interaction
between lecturers and students leads to diverse techniques of assessing learning in a class.
Assessment is important because it has a strong impact on learning. Assessment is at the core of formal higher
education (Angus & Watson 2009). Bransford, et al. (2000) concurs with that assertion as they also mention
that assessment is a crucial element for effective learning. How the lecturer approaches assessment impacts
on how students identify the class, the content to study, and their own work (Brookhart 1997). Teaching and
learning methods must be assessment-centred to offer learners opportunities to prove their emerging abilities
and receive backing to enrich their learning. What students understand as imperative is often influenced by
assessment (Lemanski 2011; Russell & Barefoot 2011), and a lot of students are not eager to waste time on
work that they feel will not contribute directly to their academic progress (Rust 2002) i.e. work which as far as
they are concerned is irrelevant. The term ‘backwash’ refers to the influence assessment has on student
learning (Biggs & Tang 2011); which means that assessment, and not the curriculum defines how and what
students learn. It is clear now that the choice of assessment is critical, and properly aligning the assessment to
the learning outcomes can produce a constructive learning practice (Biggs & Tang 2011), although the student
is learning for the assessment. Furthermost notably, assessment practices affect students by leading their
consideration to certain aspects of module material and by stipulating how to process information. Students
focus their determinations towards any material or cognitive abilities they believe will be assessed (Bull &
McKenna 2004). Therefore assessment influences what material students spend time learning, as well as the
type of learning taking place. Various forms of assessment inspire different categories of learning. They might
include formative and summative assessment. For this paper, we will concentrate only formative assessment.
ISSN 1479-4403 228 ©ACPIL
Reference this paper as Baleni Z. “Online formative assessment in higher education: Its pros and cons” The Electronic
Journal of e-Learning Volume 13 Issue 4 2015, (pp228-236) available online at www.ejel.org
mailto:zbaleni@wsu.ac.za
Zwelijongile Gaylard Baleni
Bloom (1969, 48), states that the purpose of formative evaluation is “… to provide feedback and correctives at
each stage in the teaching-learning process” The distinguishing characteristic is “when the (results are) actually
used to adapt the teaching to meet student needs” (Black & Wiliam 1998a, 140). Formative assessment plays a
critical role in learning environments, specifically embedded formative assessment. It is very important to
recognise the value of embedded formative assessment and its role in increasing student learning is essential
in not only meeting the intended outcomes of the course, but also in closing the feedback loop in quality
online courses. Instruction and assessment are an integral part of each other; thus, assessment should be
viewed as a process which lecturers must use throughout the course, not just as an afterthought or for
summative purposes at the end. With accountability in mind and the explosion of online learning
environments the need for best assessment practices in online learning environments surges.
Formative assessment is usually used in the classroom as a basis of continuing feedback aiming to advance
teaching and learning (Hargreaves 2008). It can also be named assessment for learning that takes place during
the development of teaching with the purpose to support learning (Vonderwell et al. 2007). Formative
assessment activities are entrenched within guidelines to monitor learning and assess learners’
comprehension so that teaching can be modified and further learning is informed through continuing and
timely feedback until the anticipated level of understanding has been accomplished. Formative assessments
are practical i.e. they improve expertise and concentrate in scheduling, minimise student nervousness, afford
students an additional sense of possession as they develop, and, eventually, endorse the conception of the
module contents (Smith 1997; Stiggins & Chappuis, 2005; Stiggins & DuFour 2009; Wlodkowski 2008). Unlike
summative assessment, formative assessment (a) has a drive more closely tied to lecturers’ teaching
outcomes; and (b) presents a potential for refining student learning that is more instantaneously obvious, as
well as instructionally appropriate (Knowles 1984). The benefits of formative assessment have been well
recognised and research has shown that formative assessment practices are supplementary with enhanced
academic achievement (Hargreaves 2005; Hodgen & Marshall 2005; Wiliam et al. 2004).
Formative assessment is defined “as the iterative processes of establishing what, how much and how well
students are learning in relation to the learning goals and expected outcomes in order to inform tailored
formative feedback and support further learning, a pedagogical strategy that is more productive when role is
shared among the teacher, peers and the individual learner” (Gikandi et al. 2011, 2337). The merging of
formative assessment with technological perceptions conveys the idea of online formative assessment in
unfolding this merging. Pachler et al. (2010, 716) used the term formative e-assessment which they defined as
“the use of ICT to support the iterative process of gathering and analysing information about student learning
by teachers as well as learners and of evaluating it in relation to prior achievement and attainment of
intended, as well as unintended learning outcomes”. The Pachler et al’ s definition incorporates how formative
assessment is applied in all e-learning milieus inclusive of the complementary part of ICT in f2f settings as well
as in blended and online learning surroundings. In the same tone, Gikandi et al. (2011), define online formative
assessment as the presentation of formative assessment within learning online and blended situations where
the lecturer and learners are detached by time and/or space and where a considerable amount of
learning/teaching events are led through web-based ICT.
Several researchers (Chung, et al., 2006; Van der Pol, et al., 2008; Vonderwell, et al., 2007; Wolsey, 2008) have
revealed the pedagogical prospective of online formative assessment. Nevertheless, it is also of utmost
importance further make sure that the learning setting offers the learners enough chances to not only learn
actively but prospects to take part in learning which replicates their real-world professional settings. As
confirmed by a number of researchers within the environment of online professional learning (Correia & Davis,
2008; Mackey, 2010; Sorensen & Takle, 2005), the characteristics of learning in a community of learners and
engagement in dialogue which reveals how knowledge will be applied in real-world practices are therefore
crucial in facilitating these developments to support significant learning. The ultimate goal is to support
learning that is transferable to changing environments that illustrate 21st century professional essentials.
Effective amalgamation of formative assessment in online learning environments has the prospective to offer a
suitable organisation for continuous significant collaborations among students and the lecturer, and nurture
development of effective learning communities to enable evocative learning and its assessment (Sorensen &
Takle 2005). Furthermore, this can deliver a systematic arrangement for effective student support through
ongoing observation of learning and provision of suitable formative feedback. Continuing provision for
scaffolding learning is crucial in online learning, and can basically be facilitated through continual collaborative
cooperation between the lecturer and students (Ludwig-Hardman & Dunclap 2003). This is because it supports
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students to engage productively, and assists them in the development of self-regulated learning dispositions.
This in turn supports them to take primary responsibility for their learning which is an important requirement
for success in online learning. Effective presentation of formative assessment in online learning environments
might provide a state-of-the-art pedagogical approach to simplify such prospects (Gikandi et al. 2011).
“Formative assessment does not benefit all students if they do not fulfil their responsibility to learn” (Smith
2007, 32). What worked in the past in face-to-face settings does not necessarily work in online environments
(Goldstein & Behuniak 2012). The pedagogical theory is the same, however the implementation varies. As
Vonderwell, Liang, and Alderman (2007) pointed out, assessment (whether formative or summative) in online
learning frameworks incorporates diverse features as related to f2f environments mostly due to the
asynchronous environment of interactivity among the online contributors (the lecturer and students).
Consequently, it lecturers need to reconsider online pedagogy so that they attain effective formative
assessment strategies which provide evocative deep learning and its assessment. Assessment should not
merely be vital part of scheming and planning of the modules, but assessment has to start also even before the
teaching commences or at the very latest within the first few weeks of class. Students need to be able to
exhibit their capability to attempt tasks in an online environment, before learning the content that will be
assessed later. As such, formative assessment needs to be done early in an online or blended course to make
sure that technological obstacles are not preventing students from succeeding in this environment.
Kigandi (2010) identified ten design principles grounded on a critical analysis of literature in online formative
assessment and reliable learning viewpoints.
The assessment activities need to be authentic by being relevant and meaningful to the learner real life
situations and experiences, and seamlessly embedded in the teaching and learning processes. The tasks
must be relevant to real life examples and be part of teaching and learning
Assessment activities need to engage and support learners in individual construction of knowledge and
meaning making them feel free and confident to use their previous knowledge and experience
Assessment activities need to provide learners with opportunities to construct knowledge. Students
should be allowed to share information with their peers online like in discussion forums
The assessment activities need to be accompanied with opportunities to provide formatively useful,
ongoing and timely feedback. Elaborated, timely feedback not based on marks should be provided to
students by both the lecturers and peers.
The assessment activities need to be accompanied by analytical and transparent rubrics that assist the
learner to clearly understand the expected level of achievements. Such rubrics enhance student
preparation for the submission of tasks and builds confidence in students to know that marking will be
transparent
The assessment activities need to create opportunities that engage learners in meaningful reflection.
Students must be allowed to reflect on their own understanding, i.e. self-assessment to motivate them
towards achieving set outcomes.
There is need to provide opportunities for ongoing documentation and monitoring of learner
achievements and progress over time. This will nurture students to be self -sufficient and the lecturer will
also reflect on students’ progress.
Teachers need to be more explicit in stimulating shared purpose and meaning of learning and assessment
activities. There should be evidence of alignment of teaching outcomes and assessment criteria.
The assessment activities need to involve learners in multiple roles. Students should be part of planning
assessment like choosing which rubric or what design of the rubric should be used to assess their tasks.
The assessment activities need to be flexible and provide room for multiple approaches and solutions.
Opportunities must be provided for students to reflect by looking at the rear mirror of their understanding
of the topic as well as how they have developed to be independent thinkers.
These principles were very useful is the design of the assessment tasks used by lecturers in this paper.
Wilson et al. (2011) also found that use of computer-administered multiple-choice questions as formative
assessment had an encouraging influence on student enactment. Marriott and Lau (2008) used e-assessments,
and established that they are useful in the development of student engagement and motivation for learning.
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Results revealed that e-assessments had a vital role in the teaching and learning practice (Marriott & Lau
2008). There is an ongoing argument as to whether e-assessment, particularly in the commonly used form of
multiple-choice questions, can benefit deep learning (Jordan 2009), however research has established that
well-designed assessments, including multiple choice questions, let assessment of higher cognitive functions,
such as critical thinking and analysis skills (Brady 2005; Leung, et al. 2008; Draper 2009). It has been brought to
light that students learning for a multiple-choice assessment concentrate on understanding and
comprehension, whereas when preparing for a long-answer-type assessment they concentrate on recollection
of facts to replicate in their answers (Leung, et al. 2008). Multiple-choice and continuous-assessment
approaches were noted to be the favoured techniques of assessment by students (Furnham et al. 2011),
therefore it is anticipated that they will inspire engagement, and escalate motivation and learning (Trotter
2006). Dermo (2011) found that student engagement with formative assessment, particularly the feedback,
was a challenge and proposed that students can be engaged with low-stakes grades with formative tasks.
In addition, the delivery method in online learning environments allows for opportunities in student learning
that are unique to this type of learning environment. Technology plays a positive roll on student learning
(Bakerson & Rodriquez- Campos 2006), and provides an opportunity for closing the feedback loop. If done
correctly, online learning environments can “provide student and lecturer with richer, more immediate
feedback” (Bajzeket al. 2008, 1) which, in turn, will increase productivity and learning. Assessment in this type
of environment benefits students and instructors (Dewald, et al. 2000). At all levels of education from pre all
the way to higher education, accountability has a firm grip that is not going to loosen anytime soon.
Reliability and validity issues surmount in online assessments, however interactive, formative embedded
feedback address these threats of reliability and validity. For All aspects of embedded formative assessment,
technology can be used for implementing and fostering enhanced student engagement through learning
experiences. The following discussion is the procedure followed in investigating how and if formative
assessment in an online course improves learning.
2. Methodology
The lecturers and students using Blackboard, a VLE platform in a comprehensive university in Eastern Cape
comprised the population. The sample included 2 modules, one form Faculty of Education and the other from
the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology made up of two lecturers and 220 first year undergraduate
students in 2013 term 2.
In both modules, online discussion forums and multiple choice tests were introduced in Blackboard as modes
of formative assessment. Two processes were followed firstly; topics were posted in the discussion forum for
interaction after class activity based on that particular learning outcome. Only participation in the discussion
forum had grading not the content. An assignment then followed for individual/group submission and grading.
Secondly, a pool of objective questions (multiple-choice, true/false) was uploaded online. Students were
allowed two (2) attempts to answer after getting feedback online. They also had time to revisit their reading
material before making next attempt based on the scaffolding their received from the automated online
feedback. The test items were randomised to avoid memorising answers. Feedback was immediate after
submission but only included submitted answer and feedback, no correct answers in the first attempt, and
then the correct answer would be shown in the second and final attempt. These tasks were not graded. A
summative test would follow a week later based on the same learning outcome. Then at the end of the
semester, students and staff surveys were conducted on how both the lecturers and students felt about the
process with questionnaires that were given to students and staff after the summative assessment. An
interview was also held with a few students to confirm or expatiate on some responses from the
questionnaire.
3. Results
Responses from students on the use of discussion forums were mainly positive although there were some
challenges identified. Mostly students praise online discussion forums as informative and guiding in concepts
dealt with in class. By the time they have to write the summative assignment, such discussion forums have
moulded their thinking to be more focused and intended outcome oriented.
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Examples of such positive comments are:
“I have certainly learned a lot through this discussion not just from my own work but also from the other
students”
“It requires us to think out of the box”
“It contributed to the communication between fellow – students”
“It encouraged me to read more”
“It kept me focussed and curious”
“It made me understand concepts much easier”
“A relaxed atmosphere to ask my peers”
“Could respond anytime, anywhere”
“Guidance from the lecturers kept me on track”
“Comments from peers helped a lot towards preparing my assignment”
Negative comments included:-
“Challenge to access internet”
“I had to filter good facts from bad ones when compiling my assignment”
“Some peers said negative things in their responses”
On the use of formative objective tests, the table below shows the students’ responses in % using Likert scale
ranging from strongly agree (SA), Agree (A), Not Sure (NS), and Disagree (DA) to Strongly Disagree (SDA).
Table 1: Students’ responses on formative tests
Items SA A NS DA SDA
Online tests are more accessible than
paper-based exams.
70 30
Marking is more accurate, because
computers don’t suffer from human error.
80 20
The technology used in online
assessments is reliable.
55 25 20
Online assessments favour some students
more than others
100
Randomised questions from a bank means
that sometimes you get easier questions
55 20 25
Feedback given was fast 100
Feedback was easy to understand 60 40
Feedback scaffold my learning 22 70 8
Multi attempts were helpful 68 32
Improved my engagement with learning 70 20 5 5
Took serious preparation for test 1st
attempt than 2nd one
20 60 20
Online assessment can do things paper-
based exams can’t
50 10 40
Online assessment can add value to my
learning
20 70 10
Online assessment is just a gimmick that
does not really benefit learning
10 40 50
Online assessment goes hand-in-hand
with e-learning (e.g., using Blackboard
20 60 10 10
There was larger inclination for online (83%) assessments, with only a few students declaring a preference for
traditional assessments. Students, who favoured traditional methods of assessment, also indicated that “the
online assessments are valuable to strengthen knowledge. Nonetheless if the computer crushes or if your
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Zwelijongile Gaylard Baleni
internet disconnects, that can be very painful. For this reason I favour traditional assignments”. The most
frequent reasons students gave for the preference of each type of assessment are given in Table2
Table 2: Reasons given as to student assessment preference.
Traditional Assessment Online Assessment
Used to these types of assessments
Less stressed/less stressful
Might forget to do the online
assessment
Less pressure/more relaxed
Easier
Convenience
Prefer preparing for larger assignments Can do it at home
Less affected by computer problems Can get feedback quickly
time
Can organise the time to complete it/do it in own
Easy to access and submit
Easier to focus
Responses from the lecturers were:-
All the lecturers were positive about the advantages in terms of less marking time (65%) the reduced marking
load (88.3%). Their perception was that online assessment is better than pencil and paper assessment. These
must be the innovators, early adopters which are the first group of people who accept an innovation and are
able to work within the technological arena.
The academic staff perceived other advantages they observed in e-assessment, for example what e-
assessment has changed or improved in students’ learning, responding to the question whether e-assessment
helps students to learn better. Group work in assessment tasks seems to have been made easier and they also
retain more knowledge, which shows that e-assessment is more learner-centred and there is more practice,
especially if it used formatively.
Table 1: How has e-assessment affected your marking load?
Item Yes No
It has reduced it dramatically 68.3 31.7
Marking essays is quite challenging because you have to download 75 25
Easy to mark objective tests 93 07
Time is reduced 65 35
As for compatibility the results suggest that e-assessment accommodates the needs of academic staff and they
feel comfortable in using the innovation.
4. Discussion
Formative assessment was used as a central part of teaching as the students were given two attempts on their
objective tests. Implementing this system of formative assessment during the semester provides students the
prospect to: study before each of the first attempts on the tasks; complete the task, view the results and
feedback, and make use the feedback to study further before attempting again; retake each question; and use
the results as final preparations for the summative test. In addition, because all items on the summative final
test are drawn from the formative quizzes, the prospect for students to master the content is considerably
high. It has been proven that utilising the same content from the quizzes as ‘feeder items’ for the summative
test, is exceptionally valuable.
From the comments and results above, like “Comments from peers helped a lot towards preparing my
assignment”, it shows that students appreciated and enjoyed online formative assessment. The majority of
them are very positive about the process as it has nurtured them to better understanding and more learning.
Students’ success rate can be affected by a lot of factors even when using formative assessment. These might
include opportunity to (a) realisation of gaps in content; and (b) revisiting certain topics that had been covered
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but unclear. This then serves as a important factor influencing students’ definitive achievement. As stressed by
Smith (2007, 32), “formative assessment does not benefit all students if they do not fulfil their responsibility to
learn”. For instance, if students are given a specific number of attempts, and the lecturer uses the average
scores rather than substituting taking the highest mark, students are encouraged to study before each
attempt.
As much as some academics have a feeling that giving students second attempts is compromising the reliability
of the assessment’s results, as well being inappropriate and, at worst, as tolerating students’ dishonesty,
actually, affording students a chance to learn from their mistakes encourages the fundamentals of the
educational system and in so doing developing honest competency (Chappuis & Chappuis 2008; Phelps 2010;
Renfro & Grieshaber 2009; Smith 1997). Strategically, students also end up believing that the institution and
lecturer support their learning. It promotes emphasis on student development, rather than on just
examinations. This strategy inspires students to study numerous times, as well as it fights anxiety that might
restrict the student’s exact demonstration of his or her understanding. Such efforts guarantee that the
summative final test is an assessment which measures the students’ achievement of the intended outcomes of
the module. Such a tactic also ensures that the final assessment is representative of the module’ s efficiency; it
works out as an exact summary of the content learned. The lecturers also felt closer to their students during
the discussion forums as a result even shy student asked questions for clarity and there was better
engagement with them than in a normal class.
5. Conclusion
Although formative assessment can help all students, it produces predominantly good results with low
achievers by focusing on specific glitches with their work and providing them with a clear comprehension of
the mistakes and how to correct them. Good formative assessment is not easy to achieve, taking into account
the pressure from the public/parents, students themselves to produce results, and requires a jump of
confidence by the teaching fraternity. The Blackboard selection is just one of the good effects of our
technology focused eras. Some of the benefits of implementing e-learning for formative assessment can be
specified as follows: It provides immediate feedback to the students so that the learning route ensues without
deferment compared to traditional classroom based method, the possibilities to generate comprehensive
feedback supports the student to find a solution for his/her slip-up, with appropriate clarification, it creates an
attractive learning feature for the students as they do the assessment online and it shows the scores to the
students so that proper assessment on one’s situation in terms of topic knowledge is clarified.
Learner and assessment-centered approaches can offer a framework for moving away from the traditional
viewpoint of attaining knowledge towards a new viewpoint that is compatible with active learning relevant to
the 21st century learning. While acknowledging that there may be other ways of creating such a learning
environment, application of formative assessment within the context of online learning is a viable option to
achieve this. Online formative assessments are, somehow, more privatised efforts to learn; and, especially if
students are afforded several attempts and average scores are used, they offer a much greater prospect to
great achievement (Rovai 2000). I have observed that, with undergraduate students, the use of formative
assessment is an irreplaceable and extremely valuable technique to enhance student understanding and
supporting achievement. In essence, formative assessment leads to students being able to measure their own
progress. It is also a tremendous value to lecturers as it can provide very important feedback about what
exactly students are learning; the exact nature and extent of their difficulties.
Lastly, in recent years, as e-assessment tools become progressively used, lecturers benefit in both marking
time and administrative costs of mark compilation, while for students, online quizzes give prompt and
comprehensive feedback and prominently enhanced flexibility around the time and place of taking the
assessment task. To enhance the feedback or online correspondence expected from the part of the lecturer,
other Blackboard tools like discussion forum and virtual class room can be used.
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1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusion
References
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
OF
INSTRUCTIONAL
TECHNOLOGY
AND
DISTANCE LEARNING
December 2014
Volume 11 Number 12
Editorial Board
Donald G. Perrin Ph.D.
Executive Editor
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Editor
ISSN 1550-6908
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. ii
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. iii
Vol. 11. No. 12.
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Table of Contents – December 2014
Page
Editorial: Sir John’s Speech 1
Donald G. Perrin
Crossing the bridge of communication:
An analysis of ESL materials and a hybrid solution
3
Justin P. White and Caitlin Farinelli
Understanding online K-12 students through a demographic study 19
Michael Corry, William Dardick, Robert Ianacone, Julie Stella
Online faculty burn out, best practices and
student engagement strategies
31
Lisa Marie Portugal
Convergence and Divergence:
Accommodating online cross-culture communication styles
51
Bradley E. Wiggins and Susan Simkowski
English for Sp[ecific Purposes Learners’ needs related learning for
the workplace: a pragmatic study
61
Hussain Ahmed Liton
Case study: using open education resources to design
a competency-based course
73
Patricia Neely, Jan P. Tucker, Trevor Belcher
The effect of prior knowledge questions on Iranian pre-intermediate
EFL learners’ performance in reading comprehension
83
Yasaman Rouhani and Mohammad Ali Kowsary
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. iv
Return to Table of Contents
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 1
Editorial
Sir John’s Speech
Donald G. Perrin
Previous IJITDL editorials criticize the fragmented curriculum, lack of relevance to the world we
live in, and failure to prepare a sufficient number of skilled candidates for 21st century jobs. The
following paraphrased version of a news item from the BBC offers a solution for these problems.
Educators and policymakers, pay attention!
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
In this year’s Mountbatten Lecture at the Royal Institution, Sir John O’Reilly argued that
engineers should embrace the arts. They should recognise the role of the arts in their work and
emphasise its creative side to encourage more young people to take up engineering as a career.
The lecture, Full Steam Ahead for Growth, advocated adoption of the acronym – STEAM – for
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths. Engineers should embrace the arts as a key to
creativity and an important component of innovation, crucial to creating new products and
boosting future competitiveness.
About 59% of engineering companies in the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) 2014
survey fear that skill shortages could threaten business. Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics – often known as “STEM” subjects, are vital for a modern knowledge economy. But
there is a massive shortfall in the number of recruits. A recent study by the Royal Academy of
Engineering showed the UK needs to increase by as much as 50% the number of STEM graduates
it produces. Engineering is keen to widen the pool of recruits to the profession. STEAM would
add emphasis to the creative side of engineering to improve the success of products. Aesthetics is
part of it. Apple’s iPod was not the first digital media player, nor the only one that worked, but it
dominates the market “because it is nice to have for its aesthetic and functional values”.
Universities would not require A-level art from engineering applicants. The key subjects for
admission would continue to be maths and sciences. But an emphasis on creative skills would
help “broaden the pool and attract more and diverse people into the profession”.
The IET’s skills survey raised concerns not only about the number of recruits to engineering, but
about the diversity of the workforce, with only 6% being women. The WISE campaign to
promote women in science and engineering commented: “People who are creative and
imaginative are good at working out how to improve products, make them more useful and more
attractive to customers. … Advertising for people with these characteristics would be a good way
to attract more girls and women into science, technology and engineering.”
National Union of Teachers general secretary Christine Blower said Sir John’s comments
illustrate the educational importance of arts subjects “to ensure students have a range of skills and
knowledge to equip them for their future careers”.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Sir John’s approach may be the first step in a movement to re-integrate the arts and sciences into
broader disciplines consistent with the needs of the modern world.
______________________________
Embrace engineering’s creative side’ to fix skills crisis, Judith Burns, BBC News, 21 November 2014
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-30136921
IET Chief Executive: Britain needs more engineers, 28 August 2014
http://www.theiet.org/membership/member-news/36a/nigel-times.cfm
Return to Table of Contents
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-30136921
http://www.theiet.org/membership/member-news/36a/nigel-times.cfm
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 2
Return to Table of Contents
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 3
Editor’s Note: In the traditional classroom, the textbook is a curriculum resource for teacher and student. It
is not intended to be a workbook or self-instructional manual. Some publishers actually produce a second
publication for this purpose. Publishers may provide additional resources, specifically for teachers and for
students, on their webpage. These include activities that enrich the learning experience and components
that can be integrated into the course by the instructor. This study is to determine the level of instructional
design – objectives, strategies, activities, interaction, and evaluation – built into textbooks to facilitate
language acquisition and the amount of work the teacher must do to adapt them for online or hybrid courses.
Crossing the bridge of communication: an analysis of
ESL materials and a hybrid solution
Justin P. White and Caitlin Farinelli
USA and Qatar
Abstract
Research suggests that many foreign language textbooks lack the necessary input-based materials
needed to facilitate language acquisition, such as DeMil (2013a) for Spanish, DeMil (2013b) for
French, and Lally (1998) for English as a Second Language (ESL). However, recent research has
not investigated the activity type and distribution of publisher-sponsored curricular materials that
are readily available for the use in ESL and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes. The
purpose of the present study is to analyze six leading ESL/EFL books and determine the amount
input-based activities that included in these materials. Based on the analysis in the present study,
it is clear that there is a still a lack of input-based materials, and therefore, we discuss a
pedagogical solution to the lack of input-based activities that can be used to complement these
materials, regardless of the textbook, and that can be housed online and used as a hybrid language
program or a technology enhanced language program. We discuss design of the suggested
activities and their basis, which take into account learners’ psycholinguistic processing strategies.
Keywords: classroom, communication, communicative, input, language, grammar, past tense, processing
instruction, structured input, second language acquisition, SLA, English as a Second Language, ESL,
English as a Foreign Language, EFL, teaching, textbook, hybrid, technology enhanced.
Introduction
All major theoretical frameworks in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) establish that there is a
fundamental role for input (e.g., N. Ellis 2007; Gass & Mackey 2007; VanPatten 2007; White
2007). Simply put, in order for language acquisition to take place, learners must be exposed to
input. VanPatten and Williams (2007: p. 9) state that “acquisition will not happen for learners of
a second language unless they are exposed to input.” In other words, regardless of the theory or
model of language acquisition, learners must be provided repeated opportunities to process form
for meaning during exposure to input. VanPatten (1996, 2004, 2007) proposes a model of input
processing that “… attempts to capture under what conditions learners may or may not make
connections between a form in the input and a meaning and the processes they initially bring to
the task of acquisition” (p. 6). VanPatten’s model proposes the
following:
input intake developing system output
Input processing is concerned with the first part of the model during which learners are exposed
to input and then a filtered data set of that input is converted into intake. Input processing itself,
is concerned with which form-meaning connections learners make (or don’t make) and the
conversion of the input to intake. Input processing is also concerned with “…the strategies and
mechanisms learners use to link linguistic form with its meaning and/or function” VanPatten,
2004: p. 1). Based on the psycholinguistic processes involved during learners’ initial exposure to
input, VanPatten (2004: p. 14) also posits a series of principles that guide learners through initial
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 4
exposure to language data. One such primary principle and related subprinciples are the
following:
Principle 1. The Primacy of Meaning Principle. Learners will process input before they
process it for form.
Principle 1a. The primacy of Content Words Principle. Learners processes content words in
the input before anything else.
Principle 1b. The Lexical Preference Principle. Learners will tend to rely on lexical items
opposed to grammatical form to get meaning when both encode the same semantic information.
Principle 1c. The Preference for Nonredundancy Principle. Learners are more likely to
process nonredundant meaningful grammatical form before they process redundant meaningful
forms.
Principle 1d. The Meaning-Before-Nonmeaning Principle. Learners are more likely to
process meaningful grammatical forms before nonmeaninful forms irrespective of redundancy.
Principle 1e. The Availability of Resources Principle. For learners to process either redundant
meaningful grammatical forms or nonmeaningful forms, the processing of overall sentential
meaning must not drain available processing resources.
Principle 1f. The sentence Location Principle. Learners tend to process items in sentence
initial position before those in final position and those in medial position.
In cases such as, ‘Yesterday, the cow jumped over the fence.’, learners’ tendencies to not attend
to the verb inflection ‘-ed’ are predicted by Principle 1 and subprinciples 1a, 1b, and 1f. For
example, the verbal inflection illustrating past tense is also encoded with the temporal adverbial
marker ‘yesterday’ which corresponds to subprinciples 1a and 1b. Additionally, given that the
verb along with its inflection (‘jumped’) are located in the middle of the sentence, this is the last
part of input to be processed by learners, as predicted by subprinciple 1f. All in all, what these
principles predict is that learners will encounter challenges in attending to the target form for
meaning which may, in turn, delay acquisition.
In response to this, VanPatten designed a pedagogical intervention known as Processing
Instruction (PI) that seeks to alter learners’ incorrect processing strategies and push them to adopt
more optimal processing strategies to overcome their processing errors. This instructional tool is
based on learners’ default psycholinguistic processing strategies and therefore, the goal of PI is to
push learners to attend to the target grammar form for meaning. PI in its entirety consists of three
components: 1) explicit grammar information, 2) information about learners’ processing
strategies, and 3) Structured Input (SI) activities. The components of PI are illustrated as follows
with the English past tense:
Component 1: explicit grammar information
The simple past tense in English is formed by adding the suffix –ed to the simple infinitive form
of regular verbs. For example:
To walk > walk + ed > walked.
To talk > talked
To help > helped
This structural grammar change applies for all persons, for example:
I walked.
You walked.
He/she/it walked.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 5
We walked.
They walked.
Component 2: Processing strategy information
Be careful! The ending of the verb is really easy to skip over for a couple of reasons. First, it is
typically located in the middle of the sentence and surrounded by lots of other words. Second,
there are typically words such as ‘yesterday’ or ‘last year’ that will let you know that a sentence is
in the past tense, so be sure to still look for the verb form to see the time of the event.
Component 3:
What did you do last weekend? Indicate which items you did or did not do.
Last weekend, I… Yes, I did. No, I did not.
1. texted my relatives. _____ _____
2. watched TV. _____ _____
3. exercised. _____ _____
4. talked to my friends. _____ _____
PI has been compared with traditional output-based instruction types which represent popular or
common ways of language teaching found globally. The operationalization of this approach in
empirical studies is referred to as Traditional Instruction (TI). This output-based approach begins
with mechanical drills, then moves to meaningful drills, and finally communicative drills. The
explicit information component of TI is the same as PI, therefore, the following includes only the
sequence of activities that constitute TI.
Activity 1: Mechanical Drill
Fill in the blanks with the correct past tense verb form.
1. My instructor _____ (enjoy) teaching.
2. We _____ (view) TV shows at home.
3. They _____ (play) a game of chess.
4. My friends and I _____ (exercise) in the gym together.
5. A big yacht _____ (travel) across the ocean.
Activity 2: Meaningful Drill
What did Martha do last summer? Select the verb that best completes each sentence and fill in the
blanks with the correct verb form.
start travel learn talk play
1. She _____ how to ride a bike.
2. She _____ a game.
3. She _____ to Indonesia.
4. She _____ with her friends.
5. She _____ a new job.
Activity 3: Communicative Drill
Working with a partner, make statements about what you did during high school and ask your
partner if they did also. Use the models below as guides. Be sure to use the past tense.
Model: Student 1: I played basketball almost every day last summer. Did you?
Student 2: No, I played soccer a lot.
1. travel
2. move
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 6
3. walk
4. surf
5. exercise
Mechanical drills as in Activity 1, are characterized by their having only one correct answer and
their completion involves target structure production without requiring attention to meaning.
Notice how learners can complete this activity without having to actually know the meaning of
the verb used, as long as they can produce the correct grammatical form itself? Meaningful drills,
on the other hand, require learners’ attention to both the target form and meaning, however, there
is only one correct response possible. In Activity 2, although there is only one correct response,
successful completion of the activity requires learners to produce both the target form and make
the correct verb selection based on meaning. Finally, the last activity type, communicative drills,
have more than one possible answer and require learners to contribute new or unknown
information during the task. However, communicative drills fall short of creating opportunities
for learners to interpret, express, and negotiate meaning during completion of these drills.
Typically during communicative drills, learners simply ask one question, receive the answer, and
move on to the next item.
For over two decades in empirical based studies, PI has consistently shown its effectiveness
across languages and target forms when compared with TI, such as with Spanish (VanPatten &
Cadierno, 1993; Cadierno, 1995; Cheng, 1995; Leeser & DeMil, 2013; White & DeMil, 2013a),
Italian (Benati, 2001), German (White, DeMil, & Rice, in press), French (VanPatten & Wong,
2004), and Japanese (Lee & Benati, 2007). PI has consistently performed better than TI on target
form interpretation and as well as, or better than, TI on production tasks. What is intriguing about
this is that at no time during PI do learners produce the target form, whereas TI is specifically
focused on target form production.
In terms of language teaching, Byrnes (1988) points out that the textbook often dictates course
syllabus and overall curriculum. Therefore, in terms of a language course, or a language program
consisting of various course levels (as typically is the case with language studies), this makes the
textbook choice an important consideration. That said, a few studies have delved into common
curricular trends in language teaching materials. These studies have investigated the distribution
of activities in leading Spanish intermediate textbooks (DeMil, 2013a) and French beginning
textbooks (DeMil, 2013b) and they observe that there is still an emphasis on mechanical language
exercises. Similar findings have been also found with beginning level French language
textbooks. In a 1998 study, Lally observed that English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching
materials were also mainly mechanical in nature following this pattern of mechanical,
meaningful, to communicative drills. That said, we are not aware of any recent research that has
analyzed current common publisher produced ESL pedagogical materials. There is a discussion
in the fields of ESL and FL regarding pedagogical differences and their contributing variables
both socially and culturally; however, a discussion on these differences is beyond the scope of the
goals of present study, as we are focusing on the aspects of language acquisition and curricular
materials that have demonstrated empirically to engage the processes required for acquisition.
Thus, the purpose of the present study is to investigate whether the observations made by DeMil
(2013a; 2013b) and Lally (1998) for ESL are still accurate representations of activity type and
distribution of the English simple past tense now found in five leading ESL books. Based on the
findings of this analysis, we may provide a solution to the lack of effective input-based activities
based on research in language acquisition that can be used to complement these materials,
regardless of the textbook, and that can be housed online and used as a hybrid language program.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 7
Review of literature: textbook distribution of activities
DeMil (2013a) set out to examine the type and distribution of activities targeting the Spanish
preterit tense in seven widely-used intermediate-level Spanish language textbooks. In this study,
he established the following four distinct categories of activity types: input activity, mechanical
drill, meaningful drill, or communicative drill. DeMil (2013a) defined an input activity as an
activity during which students read or listen to the target form and respond to the content in some
way, and attend to the meaning. However, they are not required to produce the target form during
activity completion. He also defined a mechanical drill as an activity during which learners must
produce the target form, but they do not have to understand the meaning in order to do so. A
meaningful drill, on the other hand, requires that learners attend to meaning in order to complete
the task; however, there is a limited option of responses given the inherent restrictions of the task.
A communicative drill requires learners to contribute new or unknown information during the
task. It is important to note that if a student were to be required to understand what another
student said, and then ask a follow-up question or do something else with that information, then
the activity would be considered a different type of a communicative activity such as an
information exchange task or an information gap task, and not simply a drill. Thus a
“communicative activity” requires a student to 1) understand the meaning of the target form and
2) utilize the new information gained from the input. Across all seven language textbooks, DeMil
counted a total of 48 activities. Of these 48 activities, DeMil identified one input activity, two
communicative activities, and thirty two mechanical drills disguised as communicative activities.
DeMil concluded that despite the wide body of research on various processes and products of
second language acquisition research and the need for materials to take into account the cognitive
factors of language learners, these well-known and widely used Spanish intermediate textbooks
did not reflect the state of the science. He recommends that textbooks be changed to include
more input, which is required for acquisition, and communicative activities.
As a follow up study, DeMil (2013b) assessed six beginning-level French language textbooks for
activity type and distribution targeting the French passé composé (simple past tense). All the
textbooks were the most recent editions (the oldest was published in 2008) and self-identified as
based on the “communicative approach.” Throughout these language textbooks, there was a
combined total of 65 activities. Using the same criteria as DeMil (2013a) to analyze the textbook
activities for type and distribution, he classified 12 activities as input based, 20 as mechanical
drills, 12 as meaningful drills, 21 as communicative drills, and 3 as communicative. DeMil
concluded these textbooks seem to be starting to take into account SLA research, but 3 total
communicative activities is still a very small percentage of the total. For students to be able to
acquire a foreign language, textbooks need to be more input-based and more communicative.
The current study is therefore modeled after DeMil (2013a) and DeMil (2013b) and investigates
the activity type and distribution of activities in popular ESL language textbooks. The purpose of
the present study is to extend the body of research on language textbook activity type and
distribution and determine of the design of these curricular materials is fueled by research in
language acquisition and if not, to seek a solution to supplement these materials with the types of
activities that foster language acquisition.
Current study
Method
The present study examined 4 popular elementary-level grammar textbooks designed for
ESL/English as a Foreign Language (EFL) courses: MyGrammarLab Elementary and its
accompanying online activities for MyGrammarLab, Grammar and Beyond 1, Practical
Grammar 1, Grammar Dimensions 1, and Basic English Grammar. These particular textbooks
were chosen because they are commonly used in ESL language programs and several explicitly
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 8
tout a communicative approach in their introductions (i.e., Grammar Dimensions, Grammar and
Beyond, and Basic English Grammar). Grammar Dimensions (Heinle/Cengage, 2007) is in its 4th
edition, the first having been published in 1994. Basic English Grammar 1 (2006) is in its third
edition; the first of which was published in 1984, and is widely known as a “favorite” or go-to
text for ESL/EFL teachers. Grammar and Beyond 1 is in its first edition (Cambridge, 2012) and
is described in the preface to be a product of corpus-based research. Practical Grammar
(Heinle/Cengage, 2011) is also in its first edition, as is MyGrammarLab (Pearson, 2012), and
similar to Grammar and Beyond, uses examples based on a corpus (Longman Corpus Network)
and self-identifies as a contextualized grammar book.
The current study focuses on the activity type and distribution of the activities targeting the
simple past tense of regular verbs and therefore only the chapters covering this particular
grammar form were included in the analyses of the present study. This target form was chosen
for analysis for the following reasons: 1) all ESL textbooks dedicate significant time to this target
form, 2) it is problematic for learners given the processing strategies associated with the target
form, 3) it is a target form used in everyday English speech and is therefore important for learners
to acquire during early stages, and 4) previous research has also investigated the types of
activities targeting the simple past tense equivalent in language textbooks (i.e., DeMil, 2013b).
As established in previous research, we analyzed the chapters’ textbook activities and in the case
of MyGrammarLab, examined the online components in which students can be exposed to
grammar principles by watching a video and subsequently doing a series of practice exercises.
For the purposes of the present study, only the practice activities were studied, not the videos, as
the videos did not require any sort of response on the part of the students. We studied these
materials for the following activity types: 1) the overall number of activities, 2) specific activity
types (input based, mechanical drill, meaningful drill, communicative drill), and
communication.
We also included ‘combination’ activities which indicate that there are multiple steps that differ
in the nature of the task (i.e., step one is mechanical and step two is meaningful). The last
activity type, ‘communication,’ refers to any activity included in the activity set that promoted
communication indicated by whether learners were asked to exchange and demonstrate
comprehension of previously unknown information such as during open-ended communicative
activities. Additionally, we chose to include an analysis for meaningful drills as this particular
activity type has been included in Traditional Instruction as operationalized in research.
Table 1
Analysis of Simple Past Tense Activities
Textbook
Titles
Number of
Simple Past
Tense
Activities
Input
Mechanical
Drills
Meaningful
Drills
Communicative
Drills
Communicative Combination
MyGrammarLab
Elementary
10 0 9 1 0 0 0
MyGrammarLab
Elementary
(Online)
30 0 15 15 0 0 0
Grammar and
Beyond 1
43 0 19 13 8 1 2
Practical
Grammar 1
15 1 12 2 0 0 0
Grammar
Dimensions 1
27 1 8 11 4 3 0
Basic Grammar 82 0 43 24 15 0 0
Total 2 106 66 27 4 2
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 9
Findings
MyGrammarLab Elementary
MyGrammarLab Elementary contained a total of 10 activities, eight of which were mechanical in
nature and two of which were meaningful drills. None of the activities in this chapter were either
communicative drills nor communicative. One of the mechanical drills was a focus on forms
activity in which students were presented with several sets of simple past tense verbs, and had to
choose one which was irregular. One mechanical drill simply involved conjugating the verb to
match the correct place in the verb paradigm. As a follow up, a meaningful drill immediately
followed requiring students to use these same verbs in these same forms to complete sentences
with blanks.
MyGrammarLab Elementary (Online activities)
Half of the activities in the online portion of MyGrammarLab were mechanical drills, while the
other half were meaningful drills. All of the mechanical drills require students to provide the
correct form of the verb given the infinitive, either by typing it or by selecting it from a list of
other conjugated verbs. There are also some activities in which students had to find verb forms in
a word search or match verbs with infinitives. The meaningful activities mostly require students
to produce the correct verb forms given a verb list rather than a parenthesis for each entry, which
means students have to attend to meaning to decide on the appropriate verbs. A few meaningful
drills asked students to write a brief paragraph telling about an event they experienced, using the
simple past tense.
Practical Grammar 1
Practical Grammar 1 first presents grammatical explanations followed by a series of practice
activities. This textbook contains a total of fifteen activities, twelve of which are mechanical in
nature, two are meaningful drills, and one input-based activity. There were no communicative
drills or communicative activities. The mechanical drills mainly require students to produce the
past tense form of the given verb by correcting spelling mistakes of given irregular past tense
forms; providing the past tense form when given an infinitive; or by responding to a prompt of
the subject pronoun and a verb in parenthesis with the correct past tense form. The remaining
few activities involve sentence completion by using the correct form of the verb provided, writing
questions or statements by using a provided verb.
There is one input activity that asks students to read a curriculum vitae, and respond to true/false
questions about the content in the document, such as “He started work in 2006.” Then the
students simply indicated if the statements were true or false based on the information provided.
There are two meaningful drills, one of which is a matching activity which students to select the
already written answer to an already written question. In order for successful completion,
learners must attend to meaning. Another meaningful drill asks students to create their own
questions (although the wh- words provided, i.e., who, what, when) to preface a list of answers.
Of the fifteen total activities, only these last two activities required learners’ attention to form and
meaning in order to complete the task.
Grammar and Beyond 1
The Grammar and Beyond series are contextualized grammar books—each chapter boasts a
“theme” by incorporating theme related vocabulary throughout the textbook—and also advertises
the series as corpus-based, meaning that the content is taken from the most frequently used words
in English. Each chapter in Grammar and Beyond 1 begins with a paragraph and comprehension
questions based on the content of the paragraph or direct attention to certain grammatical features
in the text (the latter were not included in the present analysis). Following the story passages,
there is a series of activities, and the chapter ends with extended writing exercises requiring
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 10
further paragraph reading, feature noticing, and learner paragraph production. Most activities
proceed in the following fashion: Part A asks students to simply read and notice something. Part
B requires students to answer questions or provide a verb paradigm. Part C requires students to
ask classmates questions or share information. For the purposes of the present analysis, all of the
various parts of the activities were counted as individual activities, thereby, resulting in a total of
27 activities.
There are not any input activities in this book and there are a total of 19 mechanical drills. Some
mechanical drill tasks are: verb form production (with one verb provided for each) via fill-in-the-
blanks, question formation using provided verbs, oral repetition of verbs in the correct target
forms, circling or underlining instances of the target from in a paragraph, and in one case,
completion of sentences in the past tense using time expressions (i.e., ago, last, on). One
mechanical drill requires students to transform sentences in their present tense form to past tense
using the long form (instead of the contracted form of the verb, such as “did not” instead of
“didn’t”). Several focus on forms activities contain paragraph length discourse with some
incorrect verb forms and for which the instructions direct students to find the errors and provide
the correct verb forms.
There are a total of thirteen meaningful drills, many of which require students to read a paragraph
and answer one content based comprehension question. Several activities involve paragraphs with
blanks where the verbs should be. The instructions ask students to fill in the blanks with the past
tense verb form from a list of provided verbs. This is a meaningful drill because learners must
understand meaning of the sentence in order to select the appropriate verb. Another activity
requires that students indicate if they believe their partners did or did not do a series of activities
on a list. In this case, not only do students need to produce the target form, but they need to
understand the meaning of the sentences in order to decide if the action is something their partner
might have done or not. There are also several meaningful drills in the form of writing activities
which require students to answer a prompt in either an explanatory paragraph or in a set of
interview questions. The verbs are not provided, and so students must understand both the
prompt—such as write about what you were like as a child—in addition to the verbs they wish to
use in order to write effectively. Some other activities require that students write complete
answers to comprehension questions based on a paragraph they filled in or questions they
completed in the previous activity. Thus, students must understand what they produced
(mechanically) in the previous activity in order to correctly answer the questions (and produce the
target forms) in the proceeding activity.
The eight communicative drills require that students simply share information with a partner or
compare answers. One of them is a writing activity in which students must write about an event
that their partners tell them about. Another has the potential for being a communicative activity,
as it requires that students ask and answer comprehension questions, but it does not require them
to evaluate if their partners’ answers are correct or not. The only communicative activity in this
particular textbook, immediately follows a meaningful drill requiring students to guess what their
partners did yesterday. In the proceeding communicative activity, students share their guesses
and then evaluate if the guesses are correct or not. This means that students must listen to another
student’s output, attend to it for meaning, and then make an evaluation based on that information.
There are two activities that combine approaches. One activity asks students to answer questions
about their grandfathers (meaningful drill) and then share these answers with a partner
(communicative drill). Another activity requires that students read a paragraph, write questions
about the paragraph using the provided verbs (mechanical drill), and then answer the questions
using information in the passage (meaningful drill).
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Grammar Dimensions 1
This book is similar to Grammar and Beyond in that it begins the unit on the simple past tense
with a reading. The activities in Grammar Dimensions are also broken down into multiple steps,
which were counted individually and classified as such for the purposes of this analysis. There is
one input activity, which asks students to read statements about the reading passage and indicate
if they are true or false, thereby, requiring learners to attend to the meaning of the forms in order
to determine if the statements are factual. There are 8 mechanical drills: one asks students to
underline instances of the simple past tense in the reading passage; another has students correct
spelling errors in past tense sentences; one prompts students with time expressions such as
“Yesterday, I…” and asks them to supply a verb, however, there is now second step which means
they do not have to attend to meaning, and the rest require students to provide the correct form of
the past tense verb using the infinitive provided in parentheses.
There are a total of eleven meaningful drills; many of which require students to answer
comprehension questions (or, in one case, select the correct response from a list of answers)—
either orally or on paper—based on the initial reading or on a separate very brief passage.
Several meaningful drills ask students to provide the correct form a verb in a passage, and the
verbs are chosen from a list of infinitive verbs; therefore, students must select the correct verb
based on meaning. In one activity students fill in sentences with the correct time expressions
(i.e., last, ago, in, on) with the correct forms of the verbs provided, so students have to understand
the meaning in order to decide which time expression are appropriate. Another meaningful drill is
a “Jeopardy game” in which students are divided into teams and must answer comprehension
questions based on the initial reading passage. One final pair of activities moves from meaningful
to communicative by having students listen to an alternate ending to a written story passage,
contrast it with the actual ending, and explain, in their own opinion, which ending they prefer.
There are four communicative drills. The first requires students to ask a partner questions
regarding their opinions about information in the initial reading passage, and two similar
exercises require students to ask their partners’ predictions about events in a brief passage.
Another communicative drill has the potential to be a communicative activity: it asks students to
share a story about an unlucky situation they were in. The activity says “your classmates can ask
you questions,” but these instructions are not explicit enough to render true communication, as
other activities do. A similar activity uses the topic of a previous vacation. The initial activities
require that students evaluate or ask specific follow-up questions about other students’ output.
A series of four communicative activities proceed the communicative drills. The first is an
information gap activity in which students work in pairs and look at two different sets of
sentences that describe a story about a woman. In each text, some sentences are missing
information, such as objects of verbs that complete the sentences, and others are just statements
of facts with no missing information. The two texts are the “reverse” of one another, in that Text
A contains the information that completes the sentences in Text B, and vice versa. The students
must ask questions to “close the information gap” and complete the story. There is also a similar
communicative activity in which students play “20 questions”: they take turns thinking of a
famous celebrity or person and the other students must ask up to 20 questions in order to try to
guess who the person is.
One is a sort of game in which students work in groups of three. They decide on a true story that
happened to one of their group members, and then share three versions of the story with the class:
one that is true, and the other two fabricated. Then the rest of the class must ask follow-up
questions to find out which person in each group is telling the truth. This activity can be adapted
to work for different group numbers, and can be replicated many times for different tenses or
grammar focuses. Another communicative activity requires students to write their own endings
to a story they read in a passage in a previous activity, compare their endings with each other, and
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 12
decide who has the best ending. The last activity asks students to think about what sort of
classroom activities they did or did not do in their home country, and compare these with both
activities discussed in the chapter’s initial reading passage, as well as activities done in the
students’ current classrooms. Based on all these activities, students should decide which
activities are the most useful and why. These particular activities foster the actual interpretation,
expression, and negotiation of meaning.
Basic grammar
This book is in its 3rd edition and is a very popular choice, as it is often considered the “most
communicative” of grammar textbooks, and also has the largest number of activities for each
grammar lesson. The author’s foreword touts its communicative method; however, upon further
analysis, it is not in fact a contextualized approach to grammar. It devotes two entire chapters to
the past tense, totaling 82 exercises. The majority of them (43) are mechanical drills which
require students to simply provide the correct verb form, given the infinitive form. There are not
any input or communicative activities, and only 15 communicative drills. The communicative
drills mostly require students to answer questions about activities they have done. The 24
meaningful drills mostly ask students to provide the correct verb form in a sentence by attending
to meaning rather than using a provided parentheses, or by choosing from a set of conjugated
verbs. A few activities ask students to put sentences in order to make a story, or to answer
questions about themselves. Some also asked students to write questions using given answers.
Although this particular textbook has the most activities, they also follow the sequence of
activities in what is considered Traditional Instruction; the movement from mechanical drills, to
communicative drills, to meaningful drills.
Discussion/solution: hybrid model with input activities housed online
Based on the findings of the analysis of these 6 different commonly used language textbooks, it is
clear that the materials in these textbooks emphasize explicit grammar instruction, error
correction activity types, and output-based activities, which are mostly mechanical in nature.
There are some input-based activities, however, the types of input-based activities are either
simple reading passages or perhaps input flood activities, which in input that has more than the
normal amount of target items with the goal of increasing the probability that learners will notice
the target forms (see Wong, 2005 for a detailed discussion on input flood and other input
enhancement techniques). As per typical input flood activities, learners’ attention is not
purposefully directed to the target forms, however, there are content questions that follow the
reading passages. The idea behind input flood is that with increased frequency, learners will be
more likely to notice the target forms. Be that as it may, discourse length input, with or without
modifications to deem it input flood, it leaves us with the consideration by VanPatten and Leeser
(2006: 9), “But is comprehensible input enough? It might be in the long run – but the business of
language teaching is to help acquisition in any way it can.”
Fernandez (2011) points out, “What types of teaching techniques are most helpful for learners to
start building a mental representation of the L2 grammar?” is of interest to language educators.
These materials simply do not include the input-based tasks that learners need in order for
successful language acquisition to take place. How then can we offer the types of activities
necessary for learners to maximize their language acquisition? Again, as Byrnes (1988) points
out, the textbook often dictates the course syllabus and overall course curriculum, and given that
across materials the input-based activities are lacking (or non-existent), therefore, we must create
these activities in order to supplement the publisher-sponsored materials.
One option would be to use class time to complete the types of input activities needed for
successful language acquisition, however, there are two options that would keep class time
reserved for interactive communicative activities; both of which involved housing the input-based
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 13
materials online and having learners complete them prior to arriving to class. The first option is
what is considered a hybrid language program design in which class contact time is reduced and
supplemented or replaced by online activities. The second option is to have a technology
enhanced class design in which class contact hours are maintained and the course is enhanced or
complimented by additional materials
online.
Both course design options include housing these
input-based activities online. Hybrid language programs are popping up in universities all over
the world and some have adopted designs that take into account the science behind language
acquisition. Florida State University, Michigan State University, and Florida Atlantic University
all use a shared language program design for Spanish which does exactly that; takes into account
how languages are acquired in their language program design. This same design can be used for
any language program, such as with ESL language programs which as we have established, lack
the input-based activities necessary for language acquisition, and because these learners require
engagement of the same cognitive processes as learning any other language, they need to have
this type of input exposure.
These programs involve input-based online activities that are completed prior to students’ arrival
to class. These input-based activities represent the first formal presentation of the grammar or
vocabulary for the day, to be followed up with opportunities for interaction during class time.
Learners complete these activities prior to arriving to the class session during which they will use
these grammar topics and vocabulary items while engaged in interactive activities during class.
In other words, students complete activities on grammar and vocabulary topics online that they
have not yet covered during class. The online activities are used to prepare themselves for the
interactive in-class activities that follow. The premise is that because these particular types of
activities are input-based and designed to push learners to attend to meaning, they can complete
them online and use them as learning-centered activities, as opposed to practice as homework is
typically constructed. These activities are mostly multiple choice, matching, limited selection, or
binary options, allowing them to be automatically graded by the computer. This particular aspect
frees up instructor resources for grading so that they can dedicate their time to actual class
teaching. Additionally, it behooves the instructor to incentivize students by placing a significant
percentage of their course grade on these activities.
Based on empirical studies investigating the effects of input-based activities, the findings suggest
that Structured Input activities are effective at pushing learners to attend to the target form for
meaning, altering their incorrect non-optimal default processing strategies, which results in
language acquisition. The following activities are examples of SI activities that can be completed
online prior to learners’ arrival to the classroom which will prepare them for interactive
communicative activities during class. There are two types of SI activities: referential and
affective. Referential SI activities have one correct answer and are based on fact. Affective SI
activities vary in their answers and are based on opinion. Let’s take a look at the sequence of two
referential activities and finally an affective activity that can be used as the first step in a multi-
step activity that learners can carry to fruition during class. The examples are as follows:
Activity 1: Referential SI activity
Determine whether the these statements refer to what either Bart or Lisa Simpson in the popular
TV show ‘The Simpsons’ did last night. Answer with a check mark in the appropriate space.
Bart Lisa
1. studied. _____ _____
2. played in the treehouse. _____ _____
3. practiced the saxophone. _____ _____
4. insulted Homer. _____ _____
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 14
Activity 2: Referential SI activity
Determine whether the following statements refer to what either Bill Clinton as President or
Hillary Clinton as First Lady did.
President Bill
Clinton
First Lady Hillary
Clinton
1. signed documents. _____ _____
2. created laws. _____ _____
3. played saxophone. _____ _____
4. owned a cat named Boots. _____ _____
5. served as a governor. _____ _____
6. served as the Secretary of State. _____ _____
Activity 3: Affective SI activity
When you were a child, what were your favorite activities? Indicate how often you did the
following activities when you were a child.
I…
Never Sometimes Often
1. visited the beach or pool. _____ _____ _____
2. learned how to ride a bike. _____ _____ _____
3. played video games. _____ _____ _____
4. chatted with my friends. _____ _____ _____
5. toured museums. _____ _____ _____
Notice how the first three referential SI activities can be completed online and learners receive
direct correct/incorrect feedback for their answers? Also, notice how these activities take into
account learners’ psycholinguistic processing strategies by requiring learners to process the target
grammar form for meaning? In these activities, they 1) separated the adverbial past tense markers
from the past tense verb forms, 2) placed all past tense verb forms in utterance-initial position,
and 3) focused on only one form (first person singular). The final activity in this series is an
affective SI activity that also requires learners to attend to the target form for meaning, however,
this requires learners to extend an opinion or belief and there is more than one correct answer.
The extension of this activity can then be completed during class on the following day. The
instructor can use this activity as the first step for the initial class time interactive activity in
which students can compare answers, perform interviews, write summary comparisons, or make
true/false statements based on the information they gather from their classmates.
Limitations
One of the limitations of performing a study that analyzes textbooks ignores how the instructors
can, and actually, supplement the activities in a textbook given possible institution restrictions.
Many teachers do not have a choice about what textbook they use, nor have any say in the content
or format of an exam; but they often do have control over how lessons are taught and what is
included day-to-day. Therefore, many instructors may supplement the textbook activities with
effective communicative activities, leading to better acquisition of the target language than if only
the textbook activities were utilized. DeMil makes a similar point and concludes that textbooks
should be reformed so that teachers are not responsible for continually adapting activities.
However, the PI approach requires, in order to be the most effective, that students receive SI and
then practice using communicative activities. As communicative activities require other students,
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 15
and SI activities can be housed online, in either aural or written form, therefore, it makes sense to
not use class-time resources to complete SI activities. Instead, SI activities can be conducted at
the student’s leisure using the textbook, or more ideally, computer software. This way, class time
can be used optimally for the crucial communicative activities. Therefore, a reformation of
textbooks as well as an addition of an online platform is the most optimal change we can make to
improve students’ acquisition of a new language.
Conclusion
Although it appears that many ESL materials lack the input-based activities necessary for L2
acquisition, this can be supplemented by the creation of local activities that students can complete
online prior to arriving to class. Given that these activities are designed to facilitate language
acquisition by requiring learners to attend to the target grammar form for meaning, they are
automatically graded, they can be completed at learners’ own pace and time as long as it is before
the deadline, and learners receive immediate feedback, they can complete these activities prior to
class in order to prepare them for the in-class interactive and communicative activities. While we
wait for publisher-sponsored materials to include these types of activities, we are able to provide
the exposure that students need for successful language acquisition on a local level.
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Wong, W. (2004). The nature of processing instruction. In B. VanPatten (Ed.), Processing
instruction: Theory, research, and commentary (pp. 33-63). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wong, W. (2005). Input Enhancement: From Theory and Research to the Classroom. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 18
About the authors
Dr. Justin P. White is an Assistant Professor of Spanish/Second Language Acquisition, and
Director of the Spanish Basic Language Program Florida Atlantic University. His most recent
work has appeared in Studies in Second Language Acquisition (SSLA) and he has a forthcoming
article to appear in Hispania.
He is interested input processing in second language acquisition, the role instruction plays in
SLA, and pedagogically sound material development for optimal language acquisition. His
primary research interests include how leaners process language, specifically, learners’ default
processing strategies, and how they are affected (or not) by types of input-based instruction. He
is also interested in how training on one primary target form can affect learners’ implicit language
system during secondary target form processing. In other words, how training on one form can
affect processing of other target forms predicated on the same (or different) processing strategies,
despite not having received prior secondary target form exposure.
He is also interested in implementing what we know about language acquisition through research
and theory in the design of hybrid-language programs. Of particular interest are the creation and
implementation of psycholinguistically motivated materials into the L2 hybrid-course design. He
views SLA research being at the core of decisions we make in language instruction and seeks to
increase awareness and accessibility for educators and researchers to these findings. He also
views the textbook publishers’ role in providing sound materials as instrumental in this process.
E-mail: jwhite94@fau.edu
Caitlin Farinelli is a Lecturer of EFL for the Foundation Program at Qatar University in Doha,
Qatar. She holds an MA in TESOL and an MA in Linguistics from Florida Atlantic University.
Her research interests include variables that affect acquisition of ESL/EFL along with
pedagogical implications, motivation in ESL/EFL students, and the history of the English
language.
E-Mail: cfarinelli@qu.edu.qa
Return to Table of Contents
mailto:jwhite94@fau.edu
mailto:cfarinelli@qu.edu.qa
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 19
Editor’s Note: This study compares demographic characteristics of online students compared to the
national population of K-12 students in the United States. This data will be especially valuable to policy
makers, funding agencies, and groups intent on equalizing learning opportunities for minority
students.
Understanding online K-12 students
through a demographic study
Michael Corry, William Dardick, Robert Ianacone, Julie Stella
USA
Abstract
Online K-12 learning opportunities have proliferated, but much remains to be understood about
the characteristics of participating students. This study presents a demographic profile of full-
time, K-12 online learners today and compares them with public school students nationwide in
the United States. The data was collected from a parent survey that produced 119,155 valid
responses/records for students enrolled full-time in online K-12 public schools in 43 states. The
study shows that the online student population includes somewhat more females than males, and
more middle school than elementary or high school students. White students are overrepresented
among full-time online learners compared with their share of the nationwide student population,
while Hispanic/Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander students are underrepresented. Gifted and
talented students and English language learners (ELLs) are also underrepresented. These data
provide a baseline for more detailed explorations and can assist practitioners, policy makers, and
researchers in making important decisions about online education that have implications for all
students.
Keywords: K-12, online, distance, learning, education, demographics, gender, grade, race,
ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gifted, talented, English-language learners, special education
Introduction
Enrollments in K-12 courses offered via distance education have grown remarkably. In 2003 in
the United States, 317,070 public school students were enrolled in technology-based distance
education courses in grades K-12 (Zandberg and Greene, 2008). By 2010, that number had
increased to 1,816,390 students (U.S. Department of Education 2011). During this same period
of 2003-2010, the percentage of K-12 school districts enrolling distance education students grew
from 36% to 55%.
Research into this fairly new method of instructional delivery is in its earliest stages (Barbour
2013). This study seeks to expand our understanding of K-12 online students by collecting,
aggregating, analyzing, and reporting data about their demographic characteristics. The
demographic characteristics of online students are then compared with those of the K-12 public
school student population nationwide, using data from the U.S. Department of Education (2012;
2013). The end result of this study is to better understand answer the question of “Who are the
current online K-12 learners?” and thus give researchers and practitioners additional information
when making decisions relating to these learners and their learning opportunities. Without a solid
understanding of who the learners are, it is difficult to make sound decisions affecting the online
learners of today and the future.
Demographic data can be particularly useful for helping practitioners, researchers, and policy
makers make proactive decisions about learning initiatives, projects, curriculum, and policy
affecting K-12 online students. For example, a study published by the U.S. Department of
Education reports that public school districts across the nation actively collect and electronically
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 20
maintain demographic data about students. Many school districts use this demographic
information to inform data-driven decisions about effective instruction, student placement,
program evaluation, principal and teacher evaluation, and teacher professional development
(Means, Padilla, and Gallagher 2010).
In a similar vein, the demographic profile of today’s K-12 online students emerging from this
study can assist researchers and practitioners in interpreting test results and informing customized
projects, initiatives, and curriculum. This information can also help innovators achieve the goal of
improving education for all learners.
Methods
Participants and procedures
Previous research studies that reported demographic data about online learners have relied on
data collected by online/paper surveys or interviews (Ashong and Commander 2012; Glick 2011;
Yee 2006). These techniques can yield a rich set of information.
In the current study, a survey was administered online to parents when they enrolled their child in
an online school. The questions in the survey instrument collected demographic information
about the students being enrolled in online school. Records were examined for the validity and
completeness of responses, and any incomplete records were removed. Additionally, records for
students who were being enrolled to study part-time were removed. Any identifying information
about the students was also removed, resulting in de-identified records for each student. The
resulting dataset for the study included 119,155 valid records of students enrolled full-time in
online public schools in 43 states.
In some cases, as described below, responses were combined to form a more meaningful
measure. For example, the racial/ethnic groups used for this analysis were consolidated from 63
distinct groups into 6 groups, consistent with the categories used by the U.S. Department of
Education (2013). These include White, Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander,
American Indian/Alaskan Native, and two or more races.
The study collected and analyzed data for seven major demographic characteristics of students:
(1) gender, (2) grade level, (4) race/ethnicity, (5) socioeconomic status (SES) as indicated by
eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunches, (6) participation in gifted and talented
programs, (7) English language learner (ELL) status, and (8) participation in special education.
Results of K-12 online learners for these seven demographic variables were compared with
estimates for the public school population as a whole from the U.S. Department of Education
(2012; 2013).
Results
The results of the analysis are grouped below into relevant categories. Data on students’ gender
and grade level are presented first, followed by data on race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and
participation in special programs (gifted and talented, services for English language learners, and
special education).
Gender
Online students are slightly more likely to be female than male, as displayed in Figure 1.
According to the data, 51.84% of the students in the online sample were female, and 48.16% were
male. By contrast, 48.60% of all K-12 students nationwide are female, while 51.40% are male.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 21
Figure 1. Percentage of enrollment by gender for online students and public school students
nationwide.
Grade level
The highest percentages of online K-12 students are in grades 7 through 10. As shown in Figure
2, there are fewer online students in the elementary grades, but enrollments bulge during the
middle school and then taper back off during high school.
Figure 2. Percentage distribution of online student enrollment by grade.
Race/ethnicity
Figure 3 shows the race/ethnicity of online K-12 students. The vast majority (68.23%) of online
students are White, while 15.82% are Black, 7.86% are Hispanic/Latino, 3.52% are Asian/Pacific
Islander, and 1.59% are American Indian/Alaskan Native. The remaining students have two or
more races/ethnicities (0.80%) or were reported as other/no response (2.19%). This “no
response” group also includes students who reported a race/ethnicity that did not conform to the
definitions set by the U.S. Department of Education (2013).
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 22
Figure 3. Race/ethnicity of K-12 online students.
Figure 4 compares the enrollment percentages of different racial/ethnic groups in online classes
and in K-12 classes nationwide. The percentage of White students enrolled in online classes
(68.23%) is much higher than the percentage of White students nationwide (51.7%). The
percentages of online students who are Hispanic/Latino (7.86%) and Asian/Pacific Islander
(3.52%) are much lower than their representation among students nationwide (23.7% and 5.1%
respectively).
Figure 4. Race/ethnicity of online students compared with students nationwide.
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status is often determined by a student’s eligibility for free or reduced-price
lunches through the National School Lunch Program (National Forum on Education Statistics
2006; Sirin 2005). As Figure 5 indicates, nearly half (49.15%) of online students in this dataset
are eligible for free or reduced lunch, which is quite similar to the 49.6% of students who are
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 23
eligible nationwide. The remaining online students are either not eligible for free or reduced
lunch or their eligibility is unknown.
Figure 5. Percentage eligible for free and reduced-price lunch among online students and
public school students nationwide.
Figure 6 shows the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunch by race/ethnicity for
online students in the dataset. There are clear discrepancies between the percentages of the
groups. The vast majority (63.38%) of the online students eligible for free or reduced lunch are
White, while 20.82% are Black, 8.73% are Hispanic/Latino, 2.50% are Asian/Pacific Islander,
and 1.92% are American Indian/Alaskan Native. The remaining students have two or more
races/ethnicities (0.94%) or were reported as other/no response (1.71%).
Figure 6. Percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch by racial/ethnic group.
Gifted and talented
As Figure 7 shows, 3.22% of online students are reported as participating in gifted and talented
programs. This compares with 6.7% of students nationwide.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 24
Figure 7. Percentage of gifted and talented students online and nationwide.
English language learners
As Figure 8 indicates, just 1.08% of the online students in the dataset are ELLs, which is much
lower than that 9.8% of students nationwide who are ELLs.
Figure 8. Percentages of students online and nationwide who are English language
learners.
Special education students
According to parents’ reports from the study survey, 13.30% of online K-12 students receive
special education services. As shown in Figure 9, this is very similar to the 12.90% of students
nationwide who receive special education services.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 25
Figure 9. Percentage of online students and students nationwide
who participate in special education.
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of the demographic characteristics of full-time,
K-12 online learners and answer the question of “Who are the current online K-12 learners?” This
is clearly the primary question to be answered by this research study. However, the findings of
this research lead us to consider additional research questions for the future. In fact, this study
will raise a significant number of important future research questions. At the current stage of
growth for online K-12 learning, identifying these future research questions is very important to
the healthy growth and understanding of the field. The demographic information from this study
along with the identification of the future research questions will assist researchers moving
forward and ultimately will impact policy makers, practitioners, and others in developing
customized, innovative education solutions that could ultimately benefit all learners. While the
data in this study represent a snapshot in time, the researchers intend to conduct the study on an
annual basis so that future reports will include data on year-to-year trends. The discussion below
reviews the findings from this study and introduces additional research questions that should be
considered.
Gender and grade
Among the online K-12 students in this study, females slightly outnumbered males. This is the
opposite in absolute value of the national data for all students, in which males slightly outnumber
females. Why might more females be attracted to online learning than their male counterparts?
Also, conversely, why might male students be less attracted to online learning? These are
interesting questions to be considered and further research into adoption rates, satisfaction and
success in online learning by gender may yield unique findings. Furthermore, studies of gender
combined with achievement data may also show interesting results and should be pursed. This is
of particular interest when examining the STEM areas of study for both genders of online
learners.
Student grade level may offer another avenue for fruitful research. At the lower end of the
spectrum, it is understandable why fewer students in the early elementary grades participate in
online learning because younger students generally need more hands-on teacher support and are
less technologically adept. However, the data in this study show student enrollments gradually
increasing from grades K through 9, and then gradually decreasing from grades 9 through 12.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 26
This finding leads to the question “Where do those 10th grade (and older) students go if they are
not enrolled in online schools?” Do they return to traditional brick and mortar schools? Do they
lose interest in online schooling? Could it have anything to do with shortages of specialized
teachers to oversee high school level online courses (e.g., in more advanced science and math)?
Is there something that attracts them back to a brick and mortar environment? Or do the online
students have a higher dropout rate from schooling altogether than those in brick and mortar
schools? While the current result may reflect where students in this study were enrolled, more
research should be done to compare students in similar face-to-face schools and broken down by
geographic regions. Anytime a national study is performed, it has the potential to miss more
localized findings that could be significant.
Additional issues involving gender and grade that could be investigated include student social
components, parent influence, cultural impacts and availability/skill with technology among the
varying ages and grades of students.
Race and ethnicity
According to the results shown in Figure 3, an online student is more than twice as likely to be
White as to be Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, Alaskan Native, or two or more
races. As can be seen in the comparisons in Figure 4, White students are far more represented in
the online schools in this dataset than in schools nationwide, and Hispanic/Latino and
Asian/Pacific Islander students are far less represented. The underrepresentation of
Hispanic/Latino students in online schools has been noted in other recent studies of the
demographics of online students (Glick 2011; Molnar, et al. 2014). It is not yet known to what
extent the distribution of online schools throughout the nation affects the results. For example,
are states with lower populations of Hispanic/Latino students providing online K-12 schooling
options? An analysis of this issue is greatly needed to answer this question and to consider other
research question concerning “Why Hispanic/Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander students are
underrepresented in online learning?” A rich area for further research would involve a
comparison of online and face-to-face schools in similar regions. Additional questions about
possible effects of culture, technology access and adoption, language, and other effects could be
examined in future studies.
Socioeconomic status
In this study, socioeconomic status is determined by students’ eligibility for free and reduced
lunch. The study found (Figure 5) that the percentage of eligible online students is fairly similar
to the nationwide percentage. However, when comparing the overall percentages of
race/ethnicity of online students (Figure 3) to percentage of online students eligible for free or
reduced lunch by racial/ethnic group (Figure 6), some interesting findings are observed. The
percentage of White online students eligible for free or reduced lunch (63.38%) is somewhat
lower than the overall percentage of White online students (68.23%). The percentage of online
Black students eligible for free or reduced lunch (20.82%) is somewhat higher than the overall
percentage of Black online students (15.82%). The percentage of Hispanic/Latino online students
eligible for free or reduced lunch (8.73%) is slightly higher than the overall percentage of
Hispanic/Latino online students (7.86%). The percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander online
students eligible for free or reduced lunch (2.50%) is lower than the overall percentage of
Asian/Pacific Islander online students (3.52%). The percentage of American Indian/Alaska
Native online students eligible for free or reduced lunch (1.92%) is slightly higher than the
overall percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native online students (1.59%).
Further research on the SES of online learners is warranted. One logical next step is to compare
students against national and regional socio-economic data. Additionally, a comparison of free
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 27
and reduced lunch eligibility by grade and for English language learners, special education
students, and gifted and talented students, might yield interesting and informative results.
Gifted and talented
The percentage of online gifted and talented students in the dataset is less than half the
nationwide percentage of gifted and talented students (Figure 7). These findings are somewhat
striking because gifted and talented students are often considered especially suited to online
learning (Duke University Talent Identification Program 2011; Johns Hopkins Center for
Talented Youth 2013; Wallace 2009). In fact, some experts suggest that the advanced cognitive
skills of gifted and talented learners may naturally manifest in an affinity for and success with
technology (Karnes and Siegle 2005), although this may not always be the case (Cope and Suppes
2002; Periathiruvadi and Ninn 2012; Siegle 2002).
This result must be taken with extra caution for two reasons. First, the data were collected from
parents, who were asked whether their child had participated in programs for the gifted and
talented; however, “gifted and talented” may not have been defined for the parent at the time the
information was collected, and students in the lower grades (K-2) may not yet have been
identified as gifted and talented. Consequently, the data may be underreported or over reported.
Second, only the records of full-time online students were included in the analysis. Since gifted
and talented students may use online learning to supplement the offerings of their home school
(Barbour and Reeves 2009; O’Dwyer, Carey, and Kleiman 2007; Wallace 2009), they may be
enrolled online as part-time students. This is especially true for students who live in rural areas or
who desire to learn about a low-demand school subject. Therefore, some data about
gifted/talented students may be missing, and additional investigation to confirm the results is
needed.
With these cautions in mind, it is also possible that gifted and talented students may not be
utilizing full-time online schools because they are already rewarded and prospering in face-to-
face programs. All of these factors indicate a need for additional research about the use of online
education by gifted and talented students.
English language learners
In this study, the percentage of English language learners enrolled in online classes is strikingly
lower than the nationwide percentage (Figure 8). Many factors may have influenced this result,
such as race/ethnicity differentials (see Figure 4), mastery of the English language, availability of
appropriate curriculum, or the amount of support ELLs need to be successful in online education
(Glick 2011; Molnar, et al. 2014). Still, questions remain.
One such question may be asked against the backdrop of the wide and successful use of
technology in second language (L2) and foreign language learning, which has grown significantly
since 1991 (Garrett 1991; Thorne, Black, and Sykes 2009). According to most researchers,
language learning may be enhanced with the use of language and text-heavy technologies, such as
chat rooms, internet discussion boards, and social media, where students can readily use and
practice their second language. Even though this practice is not without criticism, the relatively
successful combination of technology and second language learning, along with the
underrepresentation of ELLs online uncovered by this and other recent demographic studies, may
lead researchers to explore questions related to the effective use of online learning for K-12 ELL
students.
Another question is whether ELLs, who have specialized learning needs, could benefit from
increased access to online education because of the personalized and self-paced nature of online
learning, which is highly desirable in today’s education climate (as demonstrated in the U. S.
National Technology Plan (2010) and the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top (2010;
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 28
2011; 2012) and ConnectED (2014) Initiatives). Accordingly, an ELL student could use online
learning especially for language-heavy subjects that require time-consuming translation of the
material. In the final analysis, further research into online learning by English language learners
appears necessary in order to enact proactive education policies.
Special education
The percentage of online students identified as special education students by their parents is very
similar to the nationwide percentage (Figure 9). This is a somewhat surprising result given that
some of these students might require face-to-face hands on assistance from teachers and other
specialists. Research into how this is achieved and examining outcome and success data for
online special education students would be very interesting. Additional future research could
disaggregate the data for online special education students by grade, gender, race/ethnicity,
socioeconomic status, gifted and talented status, and ELL status. It would also be of interest for
researchers to examine the different categories of special education disabilities and the level of
services provided for online students.
Conclusions
This study has taken an important step toward advancing understanding of K-12 online learners
by collecting, analyzing, and reporting the latest demographic information about current K-12
students enrolled full-time in online learning. The primary research question answered in this
study is “Who are the current online K-12 learners?” However, the study also identified many
important future research questions that should be answered to assist in better understanding this
important area of K-12 learning. Future studies can build on the results of this study by digging
more deeply into the effectiveness of online learning and best practices for online learners.
Findings from this type of research can be used for proactive, data-driven decision making. For
example, the field of research on distance education and online learning will benefit from more
granular data about K-12 online students with special statuses (special education students, gifted
and talented students, English language learners, and students from low-SES families). Regional
and local groupings of the data will help researchers better understand the localized
implementations of online learning programs. Additional information about the interplay among
the variables of region, gender, racial/ethnic identity, and special statuses will help researchers,
policy makers, and teachers make better decisions about online learning and develop high-quality
educational options for all students.
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About the authors
Michael Corry is Director of the Center for Advancement of Research in Distance Education
at the George Washington University in Washington, DC where he is also an Associate Professor
of Educational Technology. Dr. Corry’s research interests include distance learning and other
educational technologies. He has numerous publications and presentations involving his research
interests including four books. He holds a PhD from Indiana University.
mcorry@gwu.edu
Dr. William Dardick is an Assistant Professor of Research Methods at George Washington
University in Washington, DC. He holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Measurement,
Statistics, and Evaluation from the University of Maryland. His research interests involve the
development of educational tests and psychological instruments under the Evidence Centered
Design framework using advanced assessment techniques as they relate to both learning and the
advancement of statistical methods of advanced Multi-Dimensional Item Theoretic Models. Dr.
Dardick also has over 15 years of experience in psychometric consulting.
wdardick@gwu.edu
Dr. Robert Ianacone is Chair of the Advisory Board for The George Washington University
Online High School. He holds an Ed.D. from the University of Florida with an emphasis in
career/secondary programming for the handicapped. He received his MS with a certificate in
learning disabilities and emotional disturbance from the State University of NY at Buffalo. His
area of specialization and research interests are in the field of special education, technology
integration, and educational technology policy.
ianacone@gwu.edu
Julie Stella is a researcher at the Center for the Advancement of Research in Distance
Education at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. She is currently studying
Education at Johns Hopkins University in the Mind, Brain, and Teaching program. Ms. Stella
holds an MA in Professional Writing from MN State University where she teaches Technical
Communication, a synchronous online course. She has over 10 years experience as a software
engineer and developer.
juliestella@gwu.edu
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International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 31
Editor’s note: In selecting faculty, enthusiasm, energy and competence are paramount. Do they find their
job rewarding and challenging? Are they placed where they feel comfortable, productive, well supported,
and continue to enjoy what they do? What happens if they are stressed, overburdened, depressed, or in
need of change? This study is seeks to identify specific characteristics and measures that van be applied to
alleviate job burnout challenges experienced by
online
faculty.
Online faculty burn out, best practices
and student engagement strategies
Lisa Marie Portugal
USA
Abstract
This study was a phenomenological study examining the experiences of faculty in an online
learning environment in order to identify the factors that could produce job burnout and stress in
master’s programs in education. The challenges and related stress-producing factors were also
explored to identify best practices for online faculty and attributes most suited for the demands
and expectations required in the online teaching environment. The study’s insights and findings
are based on perspectives from online faculty who have been teaching in the modality for three or
more years. These findings may be useful to stakeholders such as administrators, faculty mentors,
faculty trainers, and faculty interested in employment in the modality so that identifiable and
realistic criteria may be available upon which to base future hiring standards, employment
practices, training, and decisions about teaching online. Insights about procedures and practices
have been identified that may be effective in helping to develop initial training programs, faculty
mentor supports, administrative decisions, and on-going faculty training. Based upon the
findings, institutional leaders have information that could help identify best practices for online
faculty and attributes most suited for the demands and expectations required in an online teaching
environment. Institutions and administration can seek out and recruit the best possible online
faculty who have the necessary skills, abilities, and characteristics required in this modality rather
than hiring based merely upon academic credentials that would fail to identify specific attributes
necessary for online teaching. Finally, those specific characteristics can then be applied to
alleviate job burnout challenges online faculty would experience. The study will help institutional
leaders (a) identify faculty earlier who will be better suited to the modality; (b) identify how to
offer relevant, on-going faculty supports and training practices; and (c) prevent online faculty job
burnout.
Introduction
Institutions of higher education in the United States are offering increasing numbers of online
programs and courses (I. E. Allen & Seaman, 2007). While traditional faculty members who are
engaged in face-to-face lectures have recognized online teaching as a new teaching method that
reaches potential university enrollees, traditional faculty continue to remain doubtful regarding
the efficacy of online learning (Adams, DeFleur, & Heald, 2007; I. E. Allen & Seaman, 2006;
Carnevale, 2007; Columbaro & Monaghan, 2009; Mills, Yanes, & Casebeer, 2009). The
suspicion and continued distrust of faculty toward online learning have been depicted in
traditional universities’ preference to hire faculty who earned their degrees at traditional
institutions (Adams et al., 2007; Carnevale, 2007; Columbaro & Monaghan, 2009). This
preference for hiring faculty who prefer the traditional methods of teaching has the potential to
result in a shortage of faculty who appreciate online learning.
Having online faculty, who can be most involved and fulfilled in an online environment, is
imperative for the growth and success of institutions of higher education. However, only a small
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 32
percentage of academic leaders believe that their faculty members subscribe to the legitimacy and
value of the online modality (I. E. Allen & Seaman, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011). It is essential
that online faculty be encouraged about the academic success of their online learners because the
expansion of online learning requires committed and competent faculty in sufficient numbers to
meet student demand. This study sought to examine the experiences of faculty in an online
learning environment in order to identify the factors that can produce job burnout and stress in
master’s programs in education.
Literature review
The primary objective of this study was to explore the experiences of faculty in an online learning
environment as it related to job burnout and stress in master’s programs in the discipline of
education. The study also identified the teaching strategies, personal attributes, organizational
skills, software competencies, and job satisfaction of faculty who taught in online master’s degree
programs in education to overcome the burnout problem. The literature review was done to
ascertain the theoretical foundation of the topic being studied. After an exhaustive literature
review search on the topic of engaged and experienced characteristics of online faculty who have
taught three or more years in master’s degree programs in education, it became evident that there
were no studies done in this specific area. There was a dearth of literature that dealt with online
faculty teaching at the master’s level in the education field, which warranted this study.
Perceptions of faculty concerning online teaching
Effective faculty training and mentoring are crucial to the successful use and integration of
technology for online and distance education. A teacher’s attitude toward technology is a
significant factor in how and if technology is integrated with the curriculum. The faculty’s
attitude toward technology can be greatly influenced by the infrastructure support, training, and
mentoring provided (Bahr, Shaha, & Farnsworth, 2004; Beer, Slack, & Armitt, 2005; Helton &
Helton, 2005). In places where a well-developed plan for teacher training and mentorship was
instituted, teachers were very receptive and even eager to integrate technology into their
curriculum (Grove, Strudler, & Odell, 2004; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006).
When faculty have been surveyed, they often have said they want better technology training, but
sometimes when it is offered they do not take advantage of it, due to lack of faculty release time
and to the fact that training does not cover specific areas that faculty need. Tallent-Runnels et al.
(2006) found that it often helps to have better organized and better designed training schedules
for faculty to alleviate difficulties in enticing faculty participation. It also helps to have follow-up
sessions with mentors who can help reinforce or demonstrate what was taught in the
classroom.
Bruner (2007) discussed how one small university used surveys to solicit feedback from the
faculty on how to approach the implementation of a new online learning program. The anonymity
of the survey process allowed those who agreed or disagreed with the process to freely indicate
their agreement or objections without fear of consequences. Open-ended questions gave
administrators good insight into what the faculty liked, disliked, wanted, needed, or feared.
Findings were that university administrators should seek to reduce the “hassle factor” by using
market research to decide which courses learners might pay for, implementing a sound online
delivery system, and providing supporting resources (Bruner, 2007). Motivating faculty with
release time and financial incentives were also key factors in study findings. Finally, older and
younger faculty members believed their role as educators would be decreased as the use of
technology expands (Bruner, 2007).
There are also different types of infrastructure support needs for different types of faculty.
Faculty members teaching purely online from their home with little or no physical contact with
the home campus are naturally going to have different support needs and expectations from
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 33
faculty who teach online in a campus setting or who teach both online and on-campus courses
(Meyer, 2009). McLean (2006) outlined how faculty who teach online from home must be very
independent, self-starters, with no need for constant supervision in order to be successful in the
solitary online teaching environment. Someone who needs to feel a strong connection or
affiliation with other faculty or to the university campus may not do well as a stay-at-home online
instructor. The online teaching environment is also much different from face-to-face teaching
because many professors get the sensation that their job is never done. Administrators of online
learning programs need to be sensitive to the stresses of the online environment and the danger of
faculty burnout that is very real. Administrators and faculty need to work together to set limits on
the intrusion into personal time and to ensure the technology does not create an unhealthy
environment for the faculty (McLean, 2006).
In the online setting for students in various healthcare fields, the technology for online instruction
can often go beyond the traditional computer Internet learning environment. Students must stay
current in other technologies that are being used in the healthcare field, such as portable devices
used for bedside patient diagnosis or home visits, tablet PCs, and other similar devices, which
means that faculty members must also stay up-to-date on these types of technologies (Meyer,
2009). P. Allen, Schumann, Collins, and Selz (2007) discussed how one university system
partnered with rural clinics to provide mentors and preceptors that committed to providing the
hands-on practice for online students so they could get practical experience with the technology
they learned online. This process requires a great deal of flexibility on the part of administrators
in providing release time for faculty to be able to take part in the extensive orientations,
mentoring, and training needed to make the program a success (Meyer, 2009). The discussion of
the different adult learning theories is presented in the subsequent sections.
Job burnout and stress
Maslach (1993) defined burnout as “a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment” (p. 20). Emotional exhaustion means
being overextended and having depleted one’s emotional resources. Depersonalization refers to
an excessively detached response to other people. Reduced personal accomplishment results from
diminished feelings of competence and achievement at work (p. 21).
The research literature acknowledged difficulty in pinpointing a single definition of the term
stress. A frequently cited definition of stress has been provided by Selye (1974): “the nonspecific
response of the body to any demand made upon it” (p. 27). The term has been further defined by
Gold and Roth (1993): “a condition of disequilibrium within the intellectual, emotional and
physical state of the individual; it is generated by one’s perceptions of a situation, which result in
physical and emotional reactions. It can be either positive or negative, depending upon one’s
interpretations” (p. 17).
Rubino, Luksyte, Perry, and Volpone (2009) investigated the stressors that lead to burnout and
the role of intrinsic motivation in mediating this phenomenon. Stressors related to burnout include
fit and role ambiguity. Fit is the compatibility between a person and the work environment.
Rubino et al. found that a misfit leads to negative attitudes and discourages people from acquiring
expertise in a particular area. Role ambiguity is a lack of clarity or job-related information. One’s
role includes standards used to evaluate performance, expectations for task completion, and
information about the time needed for, and the order in which one should perform, tasks. Role
ambiguity can lead to burnout because uncertain situations are inherently stressful. In addition,
individuals waste valuable time seeking information to clarify ambiguities, thereby depleting their
energy reserves.
When examining the development of burnout among professionals, literature suggests that
burnout may be related to past anxiety, guilt, pain, and sensitivity (Ochberg, 2007). Thus, it can
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 34
be deduced that role and ambiguity experiences of employees constitute stress and, consequently,
can lead to their burnout. According to Ahola et al., (2006), burnout is determined through
physical exhaustion, headaches and hypertension, emotional exhaustion, depression, anxiety,
boredom, decline in performance, insomnia, increase of addictions or dependencies, self-doubt,
blame, and general disillusionment. These burnouts have contributed to workers’ inability to
perform their jobs adequately, which, in turn, may have resulted in a decline in their feelings of
professional efficacy (Bakker & Heuven, 2006).
In one of the few studies to involve physical education teachers, Fejgin, Talmor, and Erlich
(2005) investigated the relationship between including special needs students in mainstream
classes and burnout among Israeli physical education teachers. Challenges reported by
participants about special needs students included inadequate facilities, difficulties with timely
assessment and diagnosis of such students, the necessity of modifying teaching methods, and the
need for increased parental communication. Fejgin et al. found that the number of special
education students in class positively correlated with burnout, while the degree of assistance
provided to teachers in caring for these students negatively correlated with burnout.
Faculty job burnout and stress studies
In a study conducted by Beam et al. (2003), findings revealed that stressors relating to technology
contributed to lower job satisfaction and higher burnout of faculty in the discipline of mass
communication and journalism in higher education. In this study, technology-related stressors
stood out among other job stressors, and in most cases these stressors seemed to take precedence
over other factors such as seniority, age, tenure status, gender, academic rank, or course load. In
addition, the study identified how administrators could help alleviate this stressor amongst their
faculty members by (a) improving the quality of their technical supports and (b) improving or
adding support to faculty, such as tutorials and workshops, to help alleviate the demands placed
upon them to learn and adapt to new hardware and software. Job satisfaction or dissatisfaction has
been linked to absenteeism, turnover, motivation, performance, and burnout (Beam et al., 2003;
Iiacqua et al., 1995; Terpstra & Honoree, 2004).
In the study by Iiacqua et al. (1995), the impact of the workplace and socio-demographic factors
on job satisfaction was examined. Herzberg’s (1987) model was used to test the validity of the
two-factor hypothesis regarding the influence of extrinsic and intrinsic variables on job
satisfaction in higher education. By testing Herzberg’s hypothesis, the study indicated that 83
faculty members who participated in the study could experience both job satisfaction and
dissatisfaction simultaneously. For example, one could be fulfilled and satisfied with one’s
professional occupation, yet be exceptionally unfulfilled and dissatisfied with the work
environment. This study postulated that faculty members may be fulfilled and satisfied with their
chosen academic profession, yet if they are not intrinsically motivated by the various levels of
technology skills required, they may be extremely inefficient, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled by the
realities of working in an online environment. Moreover, faculty who are new to the modality
may be unaware of the personal attributes necessary to be engaged and satisfied in an online
environment. Understandably, one may enjoy being an academic professor in higher education
but may be unfulfilled working in an online environment.
According to eminent researchers in the study of burnout, such as Maslach (2003), Freudenberger
and Richelson (1989), and Pines and Aronson (1989), burnout can be attributed to significant
health challenges, exhaustion, cynicism, poor job performance, and overall inefficiency. These
researchers discussed how individuals exposed to prolonged chronic emotional and interpersonal
stressors can negatively affect relationships in the workplace. Job burnout has been attributed to
serious workplace challenges in many sectors but has been particularly present in higher degrees
in many human services occupations.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 35
In the study by Claybon (2008), the frequency of burnout in faculty who taught online graduate
courses within institutions in the Tennessee Board of Regents system using the Maslach Burnout
Inventory-Educators’ Survey (MBI-ES) was determined. Using the participant responses to the
Perceptions of Burnout of Online Instructors (PBOI) survey, the study identified possible
contributing factors for those who experienced burnout, and resources and strategies that could
effectively mitigate potential for burnout among those who taught distance learning graduate-
level courses. The study indicated that online faculty members teaching graduate-level
coursework who scored lowest in the areas of emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment,
and depersonalization experienced job burnout more often than online faculty members who
scored higher in these three areas.
Moreover, online faculty members often experience a compelling emotional pull to review their
courses before or after traditional working hours. Working during off hours can lead to faculty
burnout, which affects teaching performance and ultimately the learning experience of the
students. In the study by Perry (2008), the reasons for online faculty returning to the online
environment after hours were identified, as well as ways through which they could manage that
tendency. Using an in-depth online survey, Perry posited that many online faculty members tend
to experience an emotional pull into their online classrooms during off hours. This off-hours pull
can lead to job burnout, which eventually can negatively affect faculty performance as well as
negatively impacting students. Findings in this study revealed that faculty who felt supported
were more satisfied, and this factor led to greater student satisfaction as well. Furthermore, Perry
posited that stress and job burnout are possible for online faculty who feel compelled to
constantly go online and check their classrooms. If not managed well, this compelling pull can
contribute to online faculty experiencing negative feelings about their workload, mismanagement
of time, and intrusion into personal time or time off.
Research showed that avenues of opportunity have opened for students and faculty as distance
education initiatives flourish throughout higher education. Using Delphi methodology, McLean
(2006) identified stressors and levels of job satisfaction among faculty teaching exclusively at a
distance. According to McLean, online faculty job burnout appeared to be a problem when
faculty members were unable to manage and set reasonable guidelines for classroom
involvement. Furthermore, establishing boundaries for work and personal life could create stress
if online faculty were unable to manage a balance between these areas. Researchers Shi, Bonk,
and Magjuka (2006) stated that online faculty must learn how to manage their time effectively.
While these researchers suggested various strategies one could use to overcome feelings of being
overwhelmed, they believed these strategies could improve instruction.
Moreover, Oliver (2004) examined the everyday work experiences of college professors who
taught online, including their work responsibilities as online faculty within the larger university
system. Oliver conducted a survey on 17 faculty members to examine community college online
faculty. The study reported that longer work hours significantly affected life and work time
management challenges. In addition, along with longer hours being a significant problem, larger
online class sizes also affected overall faculty job dissatisfaction.
Summary
Online learning communities and modalities offer the online learner flexibility, autonomy, and
self-direction. The three learning theories highlighted relate well to these concepts, and
coursework designed for the online learner is well accommodated by each of these theories.
Higher education pursuit via an online modality is an excellent equalizer because physical
appearance, age, race, weight, clothing, disability, and the prejudices, biases, and assumptions of
others do not necessarily play as large a role as they would if one were sitting in a physical
classroom.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 36
Although the three theories of adult learning discussed in this chapter have significantly defined
the field of adult education, “no single theory of adult learning has emerged to unify the field.
Rather, there are a number of theories, models, and frameworks, each of which attempts to
capture some aspect of adult learning” (Merriam et al., 2007, p. 103). Knowles, Mezirow, and
Rogers are known as humanistic theorists, and each wrote extensively on the notion of self-
directed learning, which is a concept well-suited to the development of modalities specifically
created for the online learner. Facilitators, program developers, and curriculum writers who
incorporate adult learning theories such as andragogy, transformative learning, and student-
centered learning will find that their online programs will benefit the online learner
immeasurably.
According to Merriam et al., (2007), a humanistic orientation to learning emphasizes human
nature, human potential, human emotions, and affect (p. 294). Choice, motivation, and
responsibility are necessary factors related to the online learning process. The role of prior
knowledge and experiential learning must be incorporated into any online learning classroom
environment. These factors, when allowed to manifest in an online environment, may
significantly affect the learning experiences of the online learner in positive ways. The study
provides insight into online faculty burnout and methods and strategies faculty use in their
classrooms. Previous studies have not interviewed online faculty in master’s programs in the
college of education.
Research questions
1. Why do faculty choose to facilitate an online course(s)?
2. How do faculty prepare for this assignment?
3. What do faculty find are the major differences between lecture/discussion face-to-face
instruction and online learning?
4. In what ways has facilitating an online course been both rewarding and challenging?
5. What do faculty find to be the most challenging aspects of facilitating an online course?
Methodology
The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study was to identify the teaching
strategies, personal attributes, organizational skills, software competencies, and job satisfaction of
faculty who teach in online master’s degree programs in education. Qualitative data were
gathered through semi-structured, open-ended interview questions with 12 online faculty to gain
insights and a detailed view of online faculty and their teaching strategies, personal attributes,
organizational skills, and job satisfaction. This qualitative research used a modified van Kaam
method developed by Moustakas (1994). The modified Kaam method was based upon recorded
and transcribed interviews using semi-structured questions to capture the lived experiences of
online faculty.
Sample
The participants were determined according to their expertise and appropriateness to represent the
population for the study via purposeful sampling (Cassell & Symon, 2004). The population of
this study included online faculty teaching in a master’s degree program in education at various
institutions within the United States. The determination was based upon the potential for the
research participants to provide valuable information on the concept of online teaching because of
their personal lived experiences. The lived experience was based on courses taught, years of
teaching, and position in the institution (Marshall & Rossman, 1999). The expert population
group included online faculty members who had taught at least four online courses within a year,
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 37
taught for three or more years, and taught in a master’s degree program in education. Brockhoff
(1975) argued that demonstration of knowledge or recourse to confirmation by third parties
proves expertise.
Recommendations of potential participants by experts in the field assisted in avoiding selection
bias. Berg (2004) stated, “When developing a purposive sample, researchers use their special
knowledge or expertise about some group to select subjects who represent this population” (p.
32). The participant recommendation panel included the researcher and members of the teaching
faculty.
The nature of the online teaching experiences, accomplishments, positional authority, and
recognition by others of contributions of the recommended research participants was reviewed
and evaluated to form the basis of the sampling frame to ensure that participants had met the
basic parameters of online teaching expertise.
Sampling procedure
The study used a purposeful sampling method for understanding and exploring specific purposes
and judgments of a select group or case of individuals who had experienced the same
phenomenon (Fitzpatrick, Sanders, & Worthen, 2004; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Participants were
chosen based upon the following inclusion criteria:
1. Taught at least four online courses within a year;
2. Taught for three or more years; and
3. Taught in a master’s degree program in education.
In order to recruit participants for the study, the researcher used purposeful sampling by inviting
online faculty to participate such as colleagues and acquaintances based upon years of experience
in the field of online teaching in the college of education at many institutions. Those to be
interviewed were from many different settings, were nominated by those that knew their online
work, and were responding as individuals not faculty at a specific institution. In fact, some did
not have any institutional affiliation whatsoever.
Data collection
The factors included the need for data from subject matter experts based upon lived experiences,
access to a representative population, and varied perspectives from diverse participants.
Unstructured observational data in different venues as a participant observer or non-participant
observer were not available, and this precluded the opportunity to take field notes or to record
data to inform the research. The most appropriate and available data collection method to achieve
data validity and reliability in the target population frame was the semi-structured interview
(Elliott, 2005).
This research study utilized telephone interviews to capture a wider range of participants in terms
of geographic locations. Telephone interviews, however, permit less time to collect data but allow
better access to research participants, especially for those in different geographic locations. Thus,
this research study utilized telephone interviews. Participants were informed that the conversation
would be recorded and would be transcribed for data analysis. The interviews lasted
approximately 20 to 30 minutes, and interviews took place only once.
The researcher invited online faculty such as colleagues and acquaintances to participate based
upon their years of experience in the field of online teaching in the college of education at various
institutions. Instructions as to how to participate in the study were made available. Interested
participants received an overview of the study. If their qualifications matched the criteria
considered in this study, they were included as potential participants. All potential participants
were contacted to arrange for telephone interviews. During the interview process, participants
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 38
were informed that audio tapes were to be employed to ensure that their responses could be
transcribed appropriately. A transcribed copy was also provided to each participant for approval
after the interview process. The data collection process ended when the researcher received the
approved copy of the transcribed interview. After that, the data was inputted to the NVivo©
qualitative analysis software program for data analysis.
Data analysis
The study was analyzed using triangulation techniques, which included the use of multiple data
collection methods, analysts, data sources, or theories as collaborative evidence for the validity of
standard qualitative research findings (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003, p. 640). For the study, multiple
methods employed included qualitative analysis as well as the use of multiple analysts in the
development of the qualitative component.
The triangulation method condensed, clustered, and sorted the data by implementing the
following steps:
Step #1: Interview participants were selected in the following order: (a) three participants
from a public university, (b) three participants from a private university, (c) three
participants from a for-profit university, and (d) three participants from a research 1
university to triangulate how participants from four different types of institutions respond
to the qualitative questions.
Step #2: Interview participants via phone with qualitative questions.
Step #3: Transcribe and give responses to the participants for review and approval.
Step #4: Collaborate with outside evaluator on the study to evaluate the transcriptions.
Outside evaluator will collaborate to identify and analyze meaning units and assign
themes (Creswell, 1998).
Data analysis and results
The result of the analysis yielded the following thematic categories and thematic subcategories:
(a) category 1: factors that drive faculty to facilitate an online course; (b) thematic subcategory 1:
challenges that were overcome by online instructors; (c) thematic subcategory 2: effective
teaching-learning practices in an online learning environment; (d) thematic category 2: faculty
preparation for online teaching assignment; (e) thematic subcategory 3: personal attributes of
instructors in an online learning; (f) thematic category 3: perceived differences between
lecture/discussion face-to-face instruction and online teaching; (g) thematic category 4: elements
of online teaching that reward online instructors; and (h) thematic category 5: challenging
elements in online course facilitation. In the analysis of the first thematic category, two
subcategories emerged: (a) challenges that were overcome by online instructors, and (b) effective
teaching-learning practices in an online learning environment.
Discussion of the results
The thematic categories of the present study were the lived experiences of the online instructors
with regards to teaching in an online environment. The majority of these participants had many
years of teaching experience in a traditional classroom environment before joining the pool of
online instructors. These faculty members were specifically exposed to various traditional and
progressive teaching methods and strategies and had worked with diverse adult and minor
learners extensively before teaching online. These teaching experiences gave them advantages in
taking classes via the online learning environment. In fact, these experiences have become
significant factors driving their decisions to handle online classes.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 39
While the participants had several advantages, they also indicated several challenges to overcome
before they became generally satisfied with online teaching. The theme ability to cope with the
challenges in an online teaching-learning environment arose from this observation. The inherent
challenges of online teaching are manageable among instructors with wide teaching experience
and innate time-management ability. The challenges to becoming effective in online teaching
included the following: (a) management of students’ behaviors, (b) the innate limitations of
online learning, (c) learning online technologies, (d) management in responding to multiple e-
mails, and (e) individualized teaching strategies. These challenges among others were overcome
even without instruction from the administrators.
Managing student behaviors involves helping students understand how to address peers and
professor in a professional, academic tone in all activities and correspondence in the classroom.
This may include posting specific announcements regarding the issue, modeling an academic,
professional tone in all materials the faculty present in the classroom, and quickly and
professionally addressing any misbehavior or unprofessional tone that may be presented by
students.
Innate limitations of online learning include the fact that faculty cannot meet with learners face to
face to explain concepts, lecture material, or answer questions in person. For some students, this
may be a challenge that online faculty must address in other ways. Faculty can address this by
being present daily in their classrooms, being present before and after typical working hours of
8am to 5pm, being present in the classroom on weekends and nights, answering questions in
detail within 24 hours, presenting various ways to contact faculty via e-mail, phone, social media,
classroom chat room, faculty website, instant messaging, creating questions to the instructor
section or links within the classroom, and posting answers to common questions.
Learning online technologies involves learning new software and programs quickly and
effectively so that there is little to no down time in the online classroom. Faculty are required to
learn new online technologies on a regular and consistent basis. Online coursework often requires
changes to the curriculum and systems need to be altered, removed, changed, and newly created.
Faculty need to be able to learn these new skills as quickly and effectively as possible so that
students and teaching ability are not negatively impacted. Learning online technologies quickly
and adeptly is a fundamental and significant skill for faculty to possess.
Management in responding to multiple e-mails is required by online faculty. Most universities
with online coursework require faculty to respond to students within 24 hours. Faculty are
required to manage student e-mails and questions with individualized attention and in a timely
manner. Finding ways to do this on a daily basis is necessary for faculty.
Individualized teaching strategies may involve faculty using progressive teaching strategies that
address various learning styles with significant, specific feedback to each learner that is unique to
each learner’s needs. A one-size-fits-all approach to teaching does not address individualized
teaching strategies. Faculty should be addressing students on an individual basis, meeting the
student where he or she is, and working toward bringing each student to a higher level. This
approach requires that faculty respond to each student according to his or her needs rather than
using a cut-and-paste-the-same-information-to-all-students approach. All correspondence to each
student should be created uniquely for each student based upon students’ comments, assignment
submissions, e-mails, questions, and so on.
Among the driving forces that attracted retention among the online instructors was the flexible
time that is inherent in the online teaching environment. The instructors are able to travel without
compromising their responsibilities with students. In addition, working mothers prefer to teach
online because it allows them to perform their familial roles while practicing their teaching
profession. Although faculty have specific deadlines for posting, grading, and answering student
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 40
questions, teaching online can take place 24/7 and asynchronously. This allows faculty the
opportunity to schedule other personal and professional duties as they chose. Online faculty are
not micromanaged in a physical office or a campus-based classroom on a Monday through
Friday, 8am to 5pm schedule. For example, if faculty must post grades every week by
Wednesday, midnight Central time, this can be done days before the deadline, on the weekend, or
hours before the deadline. Faculty can manage other personal and professional duties however
and whenever they choose as long as that deadline is met each week. This allows faculty the
opportunity to create flexibility in their lifestyles and other commitments and duties however they
choose as long as university deadlines and expectations are met. An example of flexibility is that
faculty can be present and post in online classrooms for fifteen minutes daily and yet meet weekly
deadlines and work for many hours on one or two days of the week.
Another example of flexibility is that faculty can be present and producing in the online
classroom while completing other personal and professional computer or Internet research-related
tasks. Depending upon how adept faculty are at multitasking, they can be present in the online
classroom while pursuing these other activities simultaneously. Another example be may be
where faculty can be producing and present in multiple online classrooms simultaneously. In
addition, faculty can check into several classes within the same half-hour or hour timeframe
without the constraints of physical buildings, walls, or walking great distances across campus.
This may not be as easily accomplished in campus-based courses as instructors can only be
present in one place at one time. Online faculty can be in many online classrooms simultaneously
while producing quality work depending upon the technological savvy and time management
skills they may possess.
Other examples of flexibility include mothers working from home while caring for and managing
children and family commitments. Faculty can travel for personal or professional reasons and
with an Internet connection they are able to be present in the online classroom. Faculty can work
for multiple universities in an online capacity. Faculty can have full-time, ground-based, 8am to
5pm employment and also teach several online classes. Many online faculty in the College of
Education are working mothers who teach full-time in public K-12, campus-based schools and
work for a variety of universities in an online teaching capacity. Some online faculty teach
campus-based university courses in addition to their online courses. Time management is left to
faculty to handle as they see fit rather than being micromanaged by the university as long as
faculty expectations and deadlines are met.
Other factors faculty considered important in their decisions to teach online were the reduction of
the physical stress from the time spent driving to and from their respective universities and
exposure to new teaching pedagogy. These factors contributed to the positive work satisfaction of
online instructors in this study.
While the participants are professionally and technically prepared for online teaching, they noted
the recruitment process as a crucial stage that determines the success of universities in offering
online courses. These participants articulated that online instructors should have personal
characteristics that are aligned with the demands of online teaching, ability to manage students’
behaviors, and knowledge in teaching styles that are appropriate to the diverse needs of online
students. These characteristics of online instructors include (a) good organization skills, (b)
effective time management, (c) positive work attitude and behavior, (d) comfort in an online
learning environment, (e) technological competence, and (f) flexibility in dealing with students’
needs. Instructors with these characteristics can be identified via new faculty training programs
such as an online faculty training classroom where new faculty are required to perform specific
tasks. In addition, reviewing faculty resumes and asking specific interview questions related to
experience with the management of students’ behaviors, online learning and teaching, learning
online technologies, time management, working with students in a timely manner, and
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 41
individualized teaching strategies should be considered in the hiring process. Meeting criteria in
these areas and performing according to specific expectations in an online training classroom
would be first steps to identifying online faculty candidates. Peer monitoring, monitoring in the
first class one is assigned to teach, and monitoring over a yearly basis would be further steps in
identifying faculty who could perform at expected and required levels.
The required attributes of an online instructor were based on the pedagogical differences between
face-to-face instruction and online teaching, where the former emphasizes a less individualized
approach to learning than the latter. The participants have cited that with online teaching,
instructors are required to monitor and evaluate each student’s learning progress and behavior in
the online classroom. Unlike in traditional classrooms, teaching online requires the instructor to
post, review, and synthesize the online discussion as means to encourage students’ participation
in the online classroom.
In addition, the nature of the online classroom requires more time in the preparation of
instructional materials and evaluation of students’ performance than face-to-face instruction. The
online instructors must be sensitive to the difficulties students may encounter with online learning
such that they can appropriately design instructional materials that are effective for students who
may experience difficulties. Moreover, online instruction imposes urgency in reviewing and
providing feedback to keep the online discussion and coursework active. Based on these
responsibilities and work expectations, online instructors must have competency in written
instruction.
The thematic category elements of online teaching that reward online instructors reiterated the
factors that motivate educators in teaching online. The perceived rewards among the educators
involved in the study were (a) continuing enhancement of technological competence, (b) meeting
of personal and professional satisfaction, and (c) opportunity for new learning and improvement.
These themes were consistent across the responses of the participants.
While these elements focus on the individual needs of the educators in an online learning
environment, the degree of academic support from the school administration has also been
examined. Accordingly, online course facilitation needs appropriate guidelines, policies, and
procedures to protect the integrity of education and the online instructors. In this study, job
burnout and stress were associated with decisions of the administration to favor students’ unjust
complaints over the online faculty.
Discussion of the results in relation to the literature
While the present study also aims to understand the job burnout and stress among online faculty
in relation to their responsibilities in teaching the students enrolled in a master’s education
program, the researcher was unable to collect this information from faculty who have several
years of teaching experience in both traditional and online classrooms. The faculty who
participated in the present study denied experiencing job burnout and in fact suggested that online
teaching offers them satisfaction, as they can practice their teaching profession while performing
their familial roles. The perceived work satisfaction motivated them to learn available technology
so they can further enrich their teaching strategies and become effective in teaching students with
diverse learning needs.
In effect, their years of online teaching gave them expertise in the management of online
discussion as well as the management of students’ behavior, even without guidance from online
classroom administrators. For instance, one participant claimed that as she earned experience in
teaching, she adopted a random selection of students’ online postings for evaluation and
feedback. From the experiences of the faculty, it was evident that fit and role ambiguity are
related to years of experience (Rubino, Luksyte, Perry, & Volpone, 2009). This means that as
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 42
years of teaching experience of faculty increase, fitness for the work environment increases while
role ambiguity decreases (
Rubino et al., 2009).
This level of comfort in the work environment is evident in the deep concern faculties have
demonstrated to their students. Within the online learning environment, the instructors possess
higher commitment in terms of providing individualized teaching and mentoring, particularly to
those students who have learning difficulties as well as difficulties in the use of technology.
Unlike traditional classrooms, the online instructors are committed to ensure that presentation
materials are effective for self-learning. The inherent difficulty of self-learning has been
considered by the online instructors as shown in their commitment to respond to students’ e-mails
immediately. The urgency of responding to e-mails was considered an important strategy in
sustaining the interest of students in learning the required online tasks. In many cases, instructors
respond to students outside typical face-to-face class schedules to clarify learning points that are
difficult to understand in the online environment (Beer et al., 2005; Bocchi et al., 2004; Gaytan &
McEwen, 2007; Oliver, 2004).
The challenges noted in the empirical research, such as work-related demands, necessary work
adjustments, methods in managing online discussion boards, students’ behavior, inactive
discussions, proper netiquette in classroom, ensuring quality participation, and their
responsibilities as instructors have been confirmed in this research (Betts, 2008; Claybon, 2008;
Dolan, 2011); however, these challenges are not the factors that provide stress and job burnout,
which can subsequently be the reasons for faculty resignation (Claybon, 2008; Perry, 2008;
Wiesenmayer et al., 2008). The elements that contribute to job burnout and stress among online
faculty who have been teaching for several years are their inability to handle the behavior of
students who take for granted their online course requirements, the demands of students for
higher grades without making extra efforts, administrators who take the side of students who
complain unjustly, and administrators who compromise quality education to attract and retain
students. These stressors are particularly experienced by online faculty from private for-profit
academic institutions, who avoid arbitration due to fear of losing their jobs (Beam et al., 2003;
Rubino et al., 2009).
In the attempt to manage an active online discussion while avoiding conflict with students, online
instructors ensure that grading rubrics are set, clarified, and agreed by the students enrolled in the
course. Based on this agreement, the instructors evaluate the students’ performance based on the
agreed rubrics. All 12 participants interviewed in this study discussed how rubrics also serve as
the instructors’ monitoring and evaluation tool concerning the achievement of the learning course
objectives (Beer et al., 2005; Bocchi et al., 2004; Gaytan & McEwen, 2007; Oliver, 2004).
In this study, four general factors motivated online faculty in their decisions to teach in an online
learning environment. The factors were (a) the ability to cope with the challenges in an online
learning environment, (b) being able to balance familial roles and professional practice without
getting physical stress, (c) online teaching provides professional and personal satisfaction, and (d)
perceptions that the online environment offers a new perspective in teaching students. This
information further implies that these intrinsic motivations were not evident among faculty in
traditional learning environments. In the light of the results of the present study, the researcher
affirmed the findings of the earlier studies that concluded that there was job burnout and stress
among online instructors (Beam et al., 2003; Betts, 2008; Claybon, 2008; Dolan, 2011; Iiacqua et
al., 1995; McLean, 2005; Oliver, 2004; Perry, 2008; Pines & Aronson, 1989). However, unlike
the factors that contribute to job burnout and stress as identified in past research (e.g., Bruner,
2007; McLean, 2006) the present study posits that the nature of online teaching and the job
responsibilities of online instructors do not significantly affect their commitment to work. The
participants of the study have claimed that the perceived attitude of students concerning online
instruction as “diploma mill course work” and the tolerance of the online administrators to this
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 43
perception in exchange for student retention and enrollment are factors that affect the online
instructors’ motivation and job commitment.
Implication of the results for practice
The results of the present study provided empirical information on the job burnout and stress of
online instructors in the master’s education program in American universities. Literature has been
scarce in this area since online distance education was introduced in higher education.
Specifically, the results provided the perspectives of online instructors who have teaching
experience in non-traditional, for-profit universities that most often serviced adult, non-
traditional, and at-risk learners. New faculty may benefit from this study because participants
revealed various job actions, habits, expectations, traits, daily routines, job stressors, and burnout
challenges that are specific to online instruction. This study also revealed various differences
regarding teaching for public, private, for-profit, and research 1 institutions that compare and
contrast how faculty are expected to manage student issues, challenges to authority, and negative
student behaviors. Furthermore, many online institutions enroll at-risk, non-traditional, adult
learners who may have learning difficulties and present challenges to instruction that require
specific facilitation methods. Not all faculty may be willing or equipped to handle teaching online
or the demands required in for-profit institutions. In addition, this study revealed the
technological demands, individualized teaching, and feedback on student requirements in addition
to the inherent challenges of online instruction that faculty are required to address and manage
effectively. Finally, faculty expectations for grading deadlines and a 24-hour turnaround response
to all student questions and inquiries may be challenging to faculty who are accustomed to the
traditional, campus-based environment.
The most relevant research findings of the present study to educational practices was on the
selection of online instructors with personal attributes that are aligned with the online teaching
environment. The university administrators who intend to improve the delivery of quality
education through online education must emphasize the development of these attributes to their
hired online instructors. Other than providing training on the use of software and other related
technology, administrators of online instructors may also consider the development of value-
based training and development specifically in honing their patience and diligence in mentoring
students with learning difficulties.
Regular monitoring of faculty during the interview stage where faculty are required to complete a
mock online training class, the first class assignment, and annual peer-mentoring and monitoring
evaluations would be effective. In addition, faculty supports such as faculty chat rooms, on-going
training and mentoring in areas such as technology, software, classroom facilitation techniques,
and research support in all areas of online instruction would be beneficial. Faculty could benefit
from peer-mentoring and administration support where questions, problems, and solutions can be
addressed effectively and without fear of dismissal. Experienced online faculty can provide
additional support to new faculty in all areas of instruction and student management via e-mail,
faculty chat rooms, peer-mentoring, and sharing of research and effective facilitation strategies.
Administrators could create peer-mentoring groups where an experienced faculty member
manages a group of less experienced faculty so that a regular contact for guidance is established
with open communication channels.
Taking into account themes that have been identified in this study, online coordinators and higher
education leadership have a framework and a basis of knowledge and information to aid in their
hiring practices and support of online faculty. The participants in this study can offer insight into
hiring practices and support of online faculty as they each (a) had vast teaching experiences, (b)
had deep knowledge and expertise in teaching, (c) were skillful in the management of individual
learning difficulties, and (d) were skillful in teaching at-risk learners. Identifying and supporting
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 44
faculty who can specifically work with individual learning difficulties and at-risk learners is a
major factor discussed by the participants. Having patience, diligence, and exposure to various
traditional and progressive teaching methods and strategies was also common with these
participants. In addition, working with diverse adult and minor learners extensively before
teaching online was common. Based upon these factors, online coordinators and higher education
leadership should understand the importance of hiring and supporting online faculty who have
these traits, abilities, skills, and experiences.
Furthermore, faculty who can effectively manage challenging student behaviors, individualized
feedback, the inherent challenges of online teaching, and time management seem to do best in an
online environment. Hiring, training, and supporting new faculty in these areas is essential and
may relieve stress, job burnout, attrition of faculty, and attrition of students.
Recommendations for further research
While the results of the present study are compelling regarding job burnout and stress among
instructors in relation to their teaching careers in an online learning environment, the researcher
recommends further research on the lived experiences of newly hired online instructors who have
a maximum of at least two years teaching experience either in traditional and online learning
environment. The contribution of this recommended research is that it will further explore the
challenges and coping mechanisms of these newly hired online instructors with regards to the
identified issues of the expert online instructors. With this research, attrition of newly hired online
instructors can be resolved.
With regards to integration of technology and mentoring of its use to online instructors, past
research has shown the value of teachers’ attitudes toward technology in general and the use of
this technology in effective online instruction (Bahr et al., 2004; Helton & Helton, 2005). This
conclusion has been reiterated in the present study; however, the process of technology
integration to instructors’ systems of work has not been explored. The perspective emerging from
the interview data was that online instructors are already knowledgeable, if not experts, on
information technology, including the use of software for the improvement of online instruction
materials. In this regard, further research can be done concerning online instructors’ processes of
acquiring knowledge and skills of information technology. This future research can further
provide effective strategies in molding a pool of instructors who are receptive and eager to
integrate technology into their curriculum more than required by school administrators
(Grove et al., 2004; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006).
Furthermore, regardless of age, online instructors have similar views concerning the relationship
of use of technology and ease of teaching (Bruner, 2007). However, younger instructors are more
adept in the use of technology when compared to instructors who may have longer teaching
careers (Beam et al., 2003; Iiacqua et al., 1995; Terpstra & Honoree, 2004). In this case, a study
comparing the strengths and weaknesses of younger and older age cohorts may need to be done to
understand the behavior, stress, and job burnout of online instructors in relation to use of
technology and effective instruction better.
Conclusion
This study is particularly important among universities who envision hiring, supporting, and
training online faculty who are best equipped to manage the rigors of the online environment and
adult, at-risk learners who may have challenging behaviors and learning difficulties. The thematic
categories used in understanding effective online classroom instruction as well as the constraints
in the achievement of quality online education can guide administrators in the development of
professional training exercises for their regular and newly hired online instructors to learn and
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 45
adopt effective strategies in reaching these at-risk students. Not all faculty may have the attributes
and innate skills necessary to be effective, successful, and satisfied teaching in an online
environment. Online coordinators and higher education administrators have a specific challenge
in identifying faculty who are best suited for this type of employment. Furthermore, once faculty
are identified, supporting and training the newly hired present additional challenges. The
strengths that experienced online faculty bring to this form of learning have been identified as
major themes discussed by all 12 participants in the areas where one 100% consensus was present
quite often.
Based upon the overwhelming common themes reported by all participants, it is evident that
online coordinators and higher education administrators can find specific areas of importance in
relationship to hiring practices, support, and training for new and currently employed online
faculty support, and training for new and currently employed online faculty.
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APPENDIX A
Interview questions
Research Question #1
1. Why do faculty choose to facilitate an online course(s)?
Interview Questions #1
a. What work-related practices do you use as you teach online that may be different from
what you are used to doing in a regular brick and mortar classroom?
b. What adjustments have you made, if any, to be successful as an instructor in the online
classroom?
c. What methods do you use to manage your online discussion boards?
d. How do you manage a dominating, rude, or disrespectful student?
e. How do you manage a discussion that has become inactive?
f. What ideas do you have for maintaining proper netiquette in the classroom?
g. What strategies do you use in the online classroom to encourage and ensure quality
participation in threaded discussions?
h. What is your interpretation of your responsibility as an online instructor?
Research Question #2
2. How do faculty prepare for this assignment?
Interview Questions #2
a. What personal attributes do you have that you believe are necessary for teaching online?
b. How do you handle possible procrastination issues?
c. How do you handle possible job burnout issues?
d. How does your teaching style and/or philosophy fit in with the requirements and
demands of online instruction?
e. How do you feel about the notion of the “student as customer” philosophy that has been
adopted by many online institutions in higher education?
f. How do you handle students who challenge your facilitation style, methods, and
strategies?
Research Question #3
3. What do faculty find are the major differences between lecture/discussion face to face instruction
and online learning?
Interview Questions #3
a. What are your administrative and clerical skills that you believe are necessary for
teaching online?
b. What methods do you use for time management?
c. How do you use these methods to successfully facilitate online classes?
Research Question #4
4. In what ways has facilitating an online course been both rewarding and challenging?
d. How well do you use the software required for online teaching?
Research Question #5
5. What have faculty found to be the most challenging aspects of facilitating an online course?
Interview Questions #5
e. How satisfied are you with online teaching?
f. What are your motivators to teach online?
g. How do you feel about your personal accomplishments as an online educator?
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 49
About the author
Dr. Lisa Marie Portugal holds a PhD in Leadership for Higher Education, a Master of Arts
in Education with a concentration in Secondary Education, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media
Arts with a minor in Fine Arts. She is a Personal and Professional Life Coach, a published, peer-
reviewed author, an online university professor for various institutions, a PhD dissertation chair,
and a Faculty Supervisor-Mentor to graduate and undergraduate teacher-candidates. She currently
teaches coursework at the undergraduate, graduate, EdD, and PhD levels in the College of
Education.
Dr. Portugal has taught online and ground campus 6th through 12th grades in various disciplines
and she was a librarian. Throughout her career as an educator and mentor, she has been a faculty
member for 12 universities and 7 charter/public schools. She is currently a faculty member at
Grand Canyon University, American Public University, University of Advancing Technology,
University of Phoenix, Ottawa University, Walden University, Jones International University, and
American College of Education. She was previously a faculty member at Ashford University,
Argosy University, Saint Xavier University, and Drake University.
Dr. Portugal is currently writing a book and several peer-reviewed articles. Her goal is to
continue to mentor people how to reach their personal and professional goals, teach online
coursework world-wide, research, write, and publish. She has published various research papers
in peer reviewed academic journals such as Academic Leadership the Online Journal, Advancing
Women in Leadership Online Journal, Distance Learning Administration (OJDLA), and Higher
Education Perspectives. She is on the Review Board for the Journal of Instructional Research
(JIR) published by Grand Canyon University. Her expertise and research interests include student
engagement and success, Adult Learning Theory, adult, nontraditional, and at-risk learners,
faculty retention, hiring practices, faculty burn-out, best practices in online learning, emerging
technology in course design and instruction, online education, learning styles, Diversity
Leadership, Transformational Leadership, and the Community of Inquiry Framework. She
integrates theory into practice through conducting research in these areas.
lisamarieportugal@msn.com
http://drportugal.com/editing/
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International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 50
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International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 51
Editor’s Note: Collaborative teams with global online learner projects may benefit from culturally diverse
expertise. Such teams interact on a personal level within the team and virtually with globally distributed
counterparts. Cross-cultural collaboration may involve social media.
Convergence and divergence: accommodating online
cross-culture communication styles
Bradley E. Wiggins and Susan Simkowski
USA
Abstract
This paper explores Adaptive Structuration Theory through the cross-cultural collaboration of an
online radio station. Students in separate locations used social media and online tools for the
purposes of design, implementation, analysis, and evaluation of an online radio station while in a
mediated environment. Specific expectations involve successful cross-cultural collaboration
involving social media for the purposes of communication and the nexus of the application to
Adaptive Structuration Theory.
Keywords: Adaptive Structuration Theory, online radio station, student projects
Introduction
The process of media selection (social media, audio, video, websites, etc.) for online learners
engaged in collaborative projects, especially when time and distance may separate the individual
from assigned counterparts, is complex in that it relates to geography, an individual’s level of
proficiency in computer-mediated communication including social media, theories on media
traits, and the linguistic and cultural nuances involved in a collaborative team.
Before entering into the primary theoretical discussion on factors and concepts which may
ameliorate potential troubles that online learners as well as educators may encounter, it is
advisable to review current perspectives on learning across cultures. Specifically, the current
contribution offers a critical perception of online education at the threshold of a globalized
community which is still separated by real world barriers as well as metaphoric ones. This chapter
will detail the best practices to consider when traversing online education cross-culturally,
especially when one wishes to have successful communication within one’s own face-to-face
team as well as with virtual counterparts.
Cross-cultural learning
Learning styles, student strategies, and cognitive variations permeate the discourse on differences
that exist between presumably dichotomous cultural structures (Wiggins, 2011). The literature on
cultural dimensions such as individualist-collectivist, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and
as well masculinity touches on business, education, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and
government. Common throughout the discourse is the reality of difference. While this difference
between the various cultural dimensions exists, it does not suggest immutability.
Student learning strategies
Acknowledging the dynamism of culture, Drake (2004) characterizes the introduction of
international baccalaureate programs into the non-Eurocentric world as a source of potential
dissonance. This argument rests on the reality of complex cultural differences which exist among
various nations around the world. Indeed, among the Eurocentric nations, differences exist;
however, these are differences in terms of being more or less of a particular cultural dimension,
such as individualism, power-distance, or uncertainty avoidance.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 52
Studies of students from Western and non-Western cultures propose that while some learners rely
more on rote memorization (surface strategy), other learners enact a deep learning strategy
(Ballard & Clanchy, 1984; Samuelowicz, 1987; Volet, Renshaw, & Tietzel, 1994). Three learning
strategies relate to this discussion: surface, achieving, and deep.
A student maintaining a surface strategy meets minimal requirements stated by institutional
curricular objectives and utilizes rote memory (Biggs, 1987; Hunt, 2003; King 1996). Conversely,
an achieving strategy envisions a situation in which a student strives to get high grades and is
generally as good a student as possible, even if the subject is of no interest to the student. A deep
learning strategy is one focused both on competence and the process of relating new knowledge
to previous knowledge. Research that has defined Western and non-Western cultures in terms of
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1980; 2001; Hofstede & Pedersen, 1999), i.e. defining
Western as individualist and non-Western as collectivist, has provided consistent distinctions in
“learning, motivation for learning, learning strategies and goals or purposes of learning” (Brown
et al, 2007, p. 593; Gabb, 2006; Ho & Chiu, 1994; Hwang, Francesco, & Kessler, 2003; Marsella,
DeVos, & Hsu, 1985; Triandis, Bontempo, Villareal, Asai, & Lucca, 1988; Weisz, Rothbaum, &
Blackburn, 1984). Indeed, significant cultural variations may be related to cognitive variations.
By extension, these variations may characterize the nature of differences implied by cultural
changes such as Western-style schooling (Cole, Gay, Glick, & Sharp, 1971).
Cultural awareness training in the United States
As a feature of the cultural wealth of the United States, it is not surprising that its schools are
becoming increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse. A testament to this trend is the
increase in teacher preparation programs across the United States to train new and existing
teachers in cultural awareness (Lim, Maxwell, Able-Boone, & Zimmer, 2008). What is lacking,
however, is an understanding of effective social media design for e-learning content to be
delivered to culturally and linguistically diverse audiences. According to the 2005-2009
American Community Survey, 12.4% of the US population, or 38,440,000 are foreign-born.
Additionally, 19.6%, or 60,760,000 speak a language other than English at home (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2009).
Resources. The United States spends approximately $631 billion for primary and secondary
schools (Ruth, 2010). Despite this enormous expenditure, approximately 73% of high school
students graduate as a nationwide average; in some regions the figure is around 50% or lower.
According to the Sloan Consortium’s report on K-12 online learning, primary school e-learning is
still in its infancy (Allen & Seaman, 2009). However, the Sloan study noted that e-learning
solutions are critical for poorer, rural school districts.
With some school districts seeing fewer qualified educators, online learning solutions may enable
schools to draw on expertise located elsewhere and accessible online (Ruth, 2010). Patrick and
Powell (2006) found that online course enrollments have increased in the United States by
approximately 30% since 2003. This highlights the utilitarian aspect of online learning that is
most beneficial to those students residing in rural areas or districts with educator shortages
(Gibbs, Lane, & Lane, 2007). Picciano and Seaman (2009) reported enrollment in online courses
had risen to over one million students. Watson, Gemin, Ryan, and Wicks (2009) also reported the
growth of online learning in all but five states in the US. Similarly, Schaeffer and Konetes (2010)
highlight the promise of online programs to provide opportunities for students to enroll in a wider
range of courses not usually available at traditional schools.
Calls for more research in e-learning design. Rice (2009) surveyed distance education
stakeholders to identify priorities in distance education for 2009-2014. The chief priority was
‘evaluation of course design and delivery.’ These influential online education stakeholders
advocate research in effective course design and for online delivery and usage. Barbour and
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 53
Reeves (2009) and Barbour (2010) endorse online course design to follow the structure of
research methodology. Their recommended strategy shares similarities with the ADDIE model of
instructional design which incorporates analysis, design, development, implementation, and
evaluation (Dean, 2002), but involves iterative procedures to test and refine the course. Clearly, in
order to maintain a productive and nurturing online learning environment for K-12, higher
education, private sector and government training, more research is needed in course design.
The presence of collaborative teams with Global Online Learner Projects (GOLP), signifies an
organizational endeavor to benefit from culturally diverse expertise. Such teams interact on a
personal level within its own team and virtually with its globally distributed counterparts. The
following three sections review the collected literature in order to provide a clearer understanding
of the communication media selection for GOLPs. This review discusses three aspects of a
GOLP’s media selection which are (a) composition, (b) theories on media selection, and (c)
intercultural significance.
GOLP composition, location, and need for trust
The relationship between the composition and location of a GOLP determines much of the media
selected for communication purposes. The combination of composition and location of a GOLP
leads to a basic need to be able to trust both those within one’s own GOLP and those located in
another GOLP (Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1998; Cho & Lee, 2008; Ulijn, O’Hair, Weggerman,
Ledlow, & Hall, 2000). The following three subsections discuss this in greater detail. The
subsections are as follows (a) heterogeneous GOLPs being more culturally aware than
homogeneous GOLPs, (b) the location of the GOLP as a determinant in media selection given a
need for trust, and (c) that the composition of a GOLP and its location generates a need for trust.
Global Online Learner Projects Composition. There is a greater chance for heterogeneous GOLP
members to be more culturally aware than homogeneous GOLP members. In order to work
effectively within culturally diverse teams, it is important to understand the nuances of the
cultures with which one interacts (Timmerman & Scott, 2007; Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1998;
Shachaf, 2005; Uber Grosse, 2002; Hofstede, 1983; Hofstede, 2001; Beamer & Varner, 2008).
Simply peruse the national presence for corporations with an international presence for a better
understanding. For example, Starbucks takes a very different approach to its website in the United
States than it does for Japan (starbucks.com). Information received by an individual is processed
by a cultural frame which filters the message through an individual’s cultural background
(Maznevski & Chudoba, 2000; Matveev & Nelson, 2004). Given the challenges which
heterogeneity poses members of a GOLP and given the GOLP’s particular level of “virtualness,”
the team’s composition is of much greater importance than where the individual members happen
to be located geographically (Goodbody, 2005). With a solid understanding of intercultural
communication issues and how best to resolve conflict (and/or how conflict is best avoided), the
heterogeneous team tends to match or exceed the productivity of a homogeneous team
(Maznevski & Chudoba, 2000). In part this is due to the cultural complexity of a heterogeneous
team. Members of such a team often represent a breadth of linguistic and cultural diversity
(Campbell, 2008; Shachaf, 2005). The next paragraph discusses the matter of GOLP location.
Global Online Learner Projects Location. The location of a GOLP often determines media
preference given a need to formalize trust. Since GOLPs are dispersed all over the globe,
separated from one and another GOLP by geography only, the increasing use of computer-
mediated communication (CMC) and the Internet illustrates the ease by which technology can
facilitate communication beyond national borders (Olaniran, 2004; Vallaster, 2005; de Vries, R.,
van den Hooff, B., & de Ridder, J. 2006). Asynchronous media tend to be the communication
medium of choice especially among culturally diverse GOLPs (Timmerman & Scott, 2006). In
written and spoken communication between GOLPs, the language is often English (Maznevski &
Chudoba, 2000; Shachaf & Hara, 2005). Using email or social media such as Facebook or Twitter
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 54
allows non-native speakers of English the opportunity to spell-check their messages prior to
sending to other team members (Uber Grosse, 2002). In addition, the leanness of the email
medium diminishes the chance for cross-cultural miscommunication (Goodbody, 2005; Martins,
Gilson, & Maynard, 2004). Since the medium does not allow for the transference of non-verbal
communication such as gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and body language, the potential
for a team member to misunderstand another member’s message due to intercultural issues is
greatly decreased (Shachaf, 2005; Timmerman & Scott, 2006). Global Online Learner Projects
dispersed over various time zones tend to prefer asynchronous media (Shachaf, 2005; Jarvenpaa
& Leidner, 1998). However, in order to ensure a good sense of collaboration and cohesiveness,
especially when GOLPs use asynchronous media, Global Online Learner Projects must develop a
level of trust and respect to compensate for the online nature of their collaborative projects
(Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1998; Martins, Gilson, & Maynard, 2004). The next paragraph discusses
the issue of trust in greater detail as it pertains to a successful GOLP.
Trust. Team composition and its location lead to a need for good collaboration and trust in order
to perform successfully. Though trust within the GOLP is likely to be neither permanent nor
strong, it is necessary to develop trust given the shared objective of task completion (Lucas, 2012;
Olaniran, 2004; Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1998). Olaniran indicates that CMC’s perceived inherent
lack of a capacity to support rapport-building among GOLPs. Jarvenpaa and Leidner posit that
strong bonds develop especially within teams consisting of diverse membership. Identity
development within GOLPs is synonymous with successful team operation and prevents feelings
of detachment or deindividuation (Matveev & Nelson, 2004; Søderberg & Holden, 2002;
Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1998). The next point discusses how GOLPs select media and how theories
correspond to their media selection given cultural diversity.
Media traits theories, media and GOLP structure, linguistic and cultural diversity
Some media traits theories do not illustrate a sense of rationale in determining a culturally diverse
GOLP’s media selection. These media traits theories consider individual media characteristics as
determinants for selecting a given medium. The following subsections discuss (a) media traits
theories, (b) the Adaptive Structuration Theory as it pertains to media selection for a GOLP, and
(c) the aspect of linguistic and cultural diversity of GOLPs (DeSanctis & Poole, 1994; Shachaf &
Hara, 2007; Cho & Lee, 2008; Timmerman & Scott, 2007; Søderberg & Holden, 2002).
Media traits theories. Research on media traits theories often disregards the potential impact of
internal and external dimensions of culturally diverse GOLPs. Media traits theories on media
selection focus on the function of media and communication task characteristics (Cho and Lee,
2008). Media Richness Theory (MRT) is a contingency theory which suggests that the richer the
medium, the better it is to transfer ambiguous and/or complex messages (Russ, Daft and Lengel,
1990; Daft, Lengel, & Trevino, 1987; Shachaf & Hara, 2005). It was later revised to consider
newer media (Martins, Gilson, & Maynard, 2004). Timmerman and Scott (2006) argue that
communication over a wide range of media irrespective of richness is the end result because
GOLPs span boundaries and cultures. Similarly, Maznevski and Chudoba (2000) found no
connection between message traits and selected media. Media Accessibility Theory (MAT)
proposes that media have accessibility traits which determine their use. Reliability, access speed,
and availability all fall under this theory (Carlson & Davis, 1998). Maznevski and Chudoba found
inconsistent similarities between media choice and message as explained by structural traits.
Given the geographical distribution and cultural diversity of GOLPs, individual team members
conduct themselves in numerous ways relative to their own social context. Shachaf and Hara
(2007) developed the Behavioral Complexity Theory (BCT) to address aspects of global
dispersion, cultural diversity, and preferred media characteristics of GOLPs. BCT focuses on
media channel range and the flexibility of individuals. The next subsection details a GOLP’s
media selection in terms of its structure and the occurrence of successful communication.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 55
Media selection and adapted structure. Given the available communication media, a GOLP
adapts the selected medium/media to best suit its structure. Within the structure of
communication media technology, successful communication occurs when interaction between
GOLP members is well-planned and the selected media is well-adapted to the GOLP’s structure.
Managers of GOLPs often influence the selection of media in order to match the specific
communication requirements of GOLPs (Martins, Gilson, & Maynard, 2004; Olaniran, 2004;
Uber Grosse, 2002). Recalling Giddens’s (1979) theory of structuration, the Adaptive
Structuration Theory (AST) suggests that users of communication technology choose to adapt
either a technology’s role to the needs of the team, or, conversely, to adapt the team’s structure to
employ the technology in a amicable and conducive way (DeSanctis and Poole, 1994;
Timmerman and Scott, 2006; Cho & Lee, 2008; Maznevski & Chudoba, 2000). For AST, in other
words, individuals determine the outcome of technology efficacy (Timmerman and Scott, 2006;
Cho and Lee, 2008). The next paragraph discusses the aspects of language and culture given the
cultural diversity of GOLPs and how these impact the team’s internal and external
communication.
Language and culture. Linguistic and cultural diversity are features of GOLPs which form a
subtext beyond theories of media traits. A GOLP’s cultural and linguistic diversity is a benefit to
the team in that the GOLP considers a task thoroughly instead of taking quick action due to its
cultural composition. Regardless of the medium, communication tends to be smoother between
peers and already acquainted individuals (Uber Grosse, 2002; Vallaster, 2005; Søderberg &
Holden, 2002; Thomas, 2007; Ulijn, O’Hair, Weggerman, Ledlow, & Hall, 2000). Having access
to a variety of communication channels is advantageous for GOLPs given the complexity of
linguistic and cultural diversity (de Vries, van den Hooff, & de Ridder, 2006; Cho & Lee, 2008).
The next section discusses the role of intercultural competency in GOLPs as it relates to
successful communication given a wide range of media channels.
Success factors for GOLPs
The literature suggests that if a GOLP has intercultural competency and is proficient in computer-
mediated communication, like social media, the GOLP will select the best media (or combination
of media) for the task at hand (Olaniran, 2004; Cho & Lee, 2008; Uber Grosse, 2002). It appears
that intercultural competence and skilled handling of SM OR CMC correlate with a given
GOLP’s wide range of available media channels. The following subsections detail (a)
intercultural competence as a success factor for GOLPs and (b) the opportunity for GOLPs to
have access to wide range of communication media.
SM OR CMC and intercultural competence. Intercultural communication competence is a success
factor for GOLPs when a wide range of communication media channels is available. An
individual’s culture impacts social interaction (Vallaster, 2005; Hofstede, 1983; Hofstede, 2001;
Uber Grosse, 2002). A group’s intercultural competence links with expressing messages clearly
which yields a high level of team productivity (Matveev & Nelson, 2004; Hofstede, 2001;
Hofstede, 1983; Timmerman & Scott, 2007). With a wide range of media channels available,
GOLP members dispersed over a span of locations appropriate both rich and lean media for the
given task at hand, but do not choose the media because they are rich, or because they are lean
(Shachaf & Hara, 2007; Maznevski & Chudoba, 2004). A GOLP’s selection of a specific
computer-mediated form of communication results from the team’s own cultural diversity and a
desire to communicate effectively with other GOLPs (Campbell, 2008; Martins, Gilson, &
Maynard, 2004). SM OR CMC technologies do not erode cultural boundaries due inherent media
traits (Cho & Lee, 2008; Goodbody, 2005; Olaniran, 2004). Rather, GOLP team members who
are knowledgeable of SM OR CMC technology and have intercultural competency reduce
internal and external miscommunication (Ulijn et al., 2000; Olaniran, 2004). Successfully
understanding the intended message for GOLPs denotes a sense of SM OR CMC technological
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 56
skill coupled with cross cultural competency. In teams where individuals do not possess cross
cultural competency, the intended communication suffers due to the complexities of intercultural
communication (Uber Grosse, 2002; Shachaf & Hara, 2007; Shachaf, 2005). The next paragraph
discusses the importance of media channel availability in terms of a GOLP’s selection of a
particular communication medium.
Range of media channels. Having access to a wide range of communication media is important
for a GOLP when it selects a medium for a particular task. The medium is only as important as
the message sent by a GOLP member (Timmerman & Scott, 2006; Maznevski & Chudoba,
2000). In culturally diverse GOLPs it is important for members to consider that the intended
message has been understood (Goodbody, 2005). Adjusting one’s own perspective to allow for
successful communication across cultural boundaries is enhanced by the availability of multiple
media channels (Reinsch and Turner, 2006). Access to multiple channels for communication
furnishes the GOLP’s communication efforts with a “heightened visibility” (Reinsch & Turner,
2006, p.350). In “multicommunicating” individuals within a GOLP increasingly use multiple
media technologies in order to facilitate communication with other culturally diverse teams
distributed around the world (Thomas, 2007; Campbell, 2008).
Critique of the literature
While some of the research studies drew conclusions based on actual global virtual teams, and the
media they chose, other studies used virtual teams composed of students located in different
countries (Timmerman & Scott, 2007). It seems that the educational impact of learning more
about GOLP media selection, given the aspects discussed in this review, would increase by using
data from real global virtual teams.
The premise and application
What builds a sense of community better than local media? Print and, later, broadcast
technologies, have been the source for local information for centuries (McLuhan, 1964).
Generally speaking, radio stations have the mission of aligning itself to the community in which it
serves (Simkowski, 2003). When radio broadcasting came about, news and information of
interest could travel faster to those with a radio. Soon families made a habit of sitting in front of
the radio listening to their favorite shows. Radio stations have built a sense of local community
since the implementation of FCC in the guise as the FRC was to regulate radio to serve the public
interest. This section addresses the implementation of radio, first in the form of broadcast radio,
and, then, online radio as well as the application of a Global Online Learner Project in the guise
of an online radio station.
Radio stations licensed by educational institutions (typically between 88.1 and 91.9 on the FM
dial) can now be found to have a virtual presence in the form of a website (www.radio-
locator.com). According to Hanley (2002), a National Public Radio board member, the most
significant difference between commercial and non-commercial stations comes from the
perspective of the FCC and the Internal Revenue Service. The legal prohibition to air
commercials requires a very different business model. Commercial stations exist to deliver an
audience to advertisers. Public stations exist either as subsidized activities, or they must create
programming with enough audience to be sustained by grants and/or gifts from individuals.
(Underwriting, while often compared to commercials, is legally a grant of support recognized on-
the-air and possibly other ways). Self-supporting public radio stations, for example, are largely
stations that deliver programming to a significant enough audience to garner financial gifts from
that audience. Underwriting and grant support can be significant, but the largest source of public
radio income is directly from listeners.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 57
Thus, the balancing act for public radio station management is to present programming for a large
enough audience, yet achieve public service for the medium. Serving a “small but loyal” audience
usually means serving a small audience – and limits the amount of public service being done by a
given station (Hanley, 2002). In managing a public radio station, one must do well enough to
deliver an audience and also have that radio service perceived as a good enough public service to
deserve contributions for what most listeners receive for free. Hanley further stated that even
stations that rely on subsidies eventually need to be accountable in the amount and significance of
public service that is being performed, especially taking into consideration the perceived and
potential community need.
There are about 10,000 radio stations of all types in the country (Petrizzi & Wright, 1977).
According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) (2002), there are fewer than 800
public radio stations. The majority of public radio stations are owned by universities (417),
followed by nonprofit community organizations (262). Only about 48 stations are owned by
municipal entities or public school systems. Additionally, there are some radio stations owned by
individual schools.
Public broadcasting stations provide services in education, programming, and staffing and
operating for the community, similarly so can online radio. The Public Broadcasting Act, (1962)
allowed public broadcasting to take risks that may be considered as creative or served and
underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities. Thus, services become available to
all the citizens of the United States. The bill was enacted by the Federal Government to ensure
that Americans have access to public telecommunications services through all appropriate
available telecommunications distribution technologies. Through this act, the vision of public
radio is to be commercial-free and instructional, educational, and cultural in content.
Radio or radio spectrum is operationally defined for this study through the description from the
FCC. Stations are full-power radio transmitters licensed by the FCC. Licensees are community
organizations, colleges or universities, local authorities or state governments, which hold the FCC
licenses. The FCC (2002) defined radio spectrum as follows:
The radio spectrum is the part of the natural spectrum of electromagnetic radiation lying between
the frequency limits of 9 kilohertz and 300 gigahertz. In the United States, regulatory
responsibility for the radio spectrum is divided between the FCC and the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration. (¶ 1)
To best put the definition in the vernacular, radio is designed to reach mass audiences with a
signal that is transmitted from a central point and can be reached by persons around the standard
radio receive equipment (Meyer, 1994). In turn, online radio can reach potentially a larger
audience because it is not bound by terrestrial signal.
Unlike a licensed radio station, an online radio station can be set up and information disseminated
rather inexpensively with no current regulations from the FCC. Similarly to broadcast radio, any
individual with an internet connection can listen to an online radio station. In turn, individuals can
rather easily start an internet or online radio “station.” There are many services which charge little
or nothing for one to upload audio content (spreaker.com, Live365.com, etc.). While many radio
stations licensed to colleges have an online or internet presence, not all educational institutions
have a licensed radio station. It was the desire of students within our university, which is does not
have a traditional radio station, to have at least one online.
Students in two media communication courses (Broadcasting in New Media and Survey of New
Media) were tasked with proposing an online radio station and creating its web presence.
Additionally, students were required to get a “global perspective” and, in turn, a Global Online
Learner Project was created. Students attained a global perspective by adding non-native English
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 58
speakers or international students to their teams. Groups of three or four American students from
a small southern public university were teamed up with international students who had a
connection to the university. While the majority resided in Asian countries (Japan, South Korea,
Vietnam), other countries included England, Mexico, and Spain. The American student
population was 39 and the international population was 49, because each group had at least two
international students.
Collaboration was typically either in the design or final stages. For example, the American
students would ask questions what the international students would like to see and then the
Americans would build it. The results would then be critiqued by the international students. It
appeared during this initial GOLP that there was no online development between the American
and the International students. Instead, students used social media to discuss what they liked and
what need to be further explained. As the literature review indicates, the areas of linguistics and
time difference were the biggest problem areas for the project. The objective of the assignment
was to create a website or concept paper that brings the media communication students nearer to
the goal of creating an online radio station. The purpose of the global connection was for
American students in a small southern town to understand the cultural nature of radio and the
internet. Using social media to communicate, students were able to finesse the project, so that it
met the needs of a global culture through the perspectives of these 49 international students.
Remaining research questions
Further research could delve deeper into analyzing media selection within the context of existing
theoretical models and intercultural dimensions. When the authors included intercultural
dimensions, they often chose the context dimension (high-context vs. low-context) and did not
include other dimensions in their research (Hofstede, 1983; Beamer & Varner, 2008). Perhaps
future research could test the validity (if any) of intercultural dimensions within a research
framework probing the media selection of GOLPs. This data could illustrate the impact (if any) of
the cultural aspect of GOLPs and their selection of media.
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About the authors
Bradley E. Wiggins is from the University of Arkansas –Fort Smith, United States.
Email: bradely.wiggins@uafs.edu
Susan Simkowski is from the University of Arkansas –Fort Smith, United States
Email: susan.simkowski@uafs.edu
Return to Table of Contents
mailto:bradely.wiggins@uafs.edu
mailto:susan.simkowski@uafs.edu
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 61
Editor’s Note: This is a study to determine the gap between classroom training and performing in real world
environments. It calls for videos of model situations and interactive materials to prepare for and simulate on-
the-job experiences and communications.
English for Specific Purposes
learners’ needs-related learning for the workplace:
a pragmatic study
Hussain Ahmed Liton
Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Typically, ESP course is designed to develop students’ communication skills not solely for the
office, but also for useful in a specific workplace. But, unfortunately ESP for School of Business
at some South-East Asian universities, is not being very effective in promoting students’
performance in the workplace. Behind this backdrop, this paper explores learners’ pragmatic
workplace learning practices that impact their profession, and that has immediate applicability to
their professional responsibilities. This article, in other words, addresses the gaps between what
students learn in ESP class and what they need in real workplace. The data were collected
through questionnaires from 30 ESP teachers. The data were analyzed both qualitatively and
quantitatively. The research results revealed that the current ESP in use fails to capture the
learners’ needs and skills in workplace communication. It, therefore, suggests that the ESP
textbook has to be augmented with materials related to practical workplace needs as well as extra
materials that respond to the teachers’ constant ‘needs analysis’.
Keywords: pragmatic, needs analysis, Business Studies, workplace, effective intercultural communication,
ICT skills & application
Introduction and backdrop
It is commonly a difficult task to find the right and the most comprehensive range of English for
Business School and ESP course materials to suit a range of students’ needs in the
workplace.
Whether students are in work or still studying, this paper talks concerning the language, skills,
and additional resources they need to progress in their future career. Since the workplace is
evolving globally now more than ever due to economic globalization, students and professionals
need appropriate and relevant English to communicate effectively in a variety of business
situations. Here lies the question of needs analysis to furnish students for the journey towards
their future career. To this end, ESP courses should provide with communication skills not solely
for the office, but also for useful in a specific workplace, such as factory, hotel, laboratory or
corporate organization. Actually, specificity in teaching ESP is to fulfil specific needs and
sustainable competency of the students. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has its driving and
defining characteristic stance leading to focus on the learners’ specific objectives, or needs to
learn English for pragmatic use in a specific context. Consequently, ESP course is to be designed
to meet the specific learning needs of a specific learner or group of learners within a specific time
frame for which instruction in traditional General English (GE) will not suffice. This course
instruction, in general, involves in orientation to specific spoken and written English skills
development to carry out specific academic or workplace tasks and purposes. Linguist experts
and researchers opine that “…all learning activities are filtered through students’ motivation”
(Liton, 2012). But unfortunately in the South-East Asian countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, and Yemen, existing ESP course is not being
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 62
effective in developing Business students’ (Bachelor Level) competence and performance in the
art of business communication in the workplace. Behind this backdrop, the present paper
discusses learners’ needs related learning for the workplace with a view to developing an
effective and practical teaching-learning ESP for the students of Business School at some
universities of South-East Asia.
In other words, this study investigates learners’ needs, specifying to meet those needs in actual
teaching and learning situations, catering their better performance in the real workplace situation.
Learners’ needs will have to be addressed if the course is to be effective and successful. Business
Studies students have specific English needs. This reality has developed a variety of ESP course
designs. In such a context teachers’ role is a vital factor as Schleppegrell defines “Their
(Teachers) task is to analyze students’ needs, outline objectives, select and adapt teaching
materials, design lessons, create an adult-oriented learning environment, and assess students’
progress” (Schleppegrell, 1991, pp. 18-22). It underlines the issue of needs analysis.
ESP for School of Business & ‘Needs’ related teaching-learning
TESP determines to teach English in context related to students’ skills need for their job in real
work situations. ESP has always been with needs analysis and preparing learners to communicate
effectively in the tasks prescribed by their field of study or work situation. The theory of ESP
could be outlined based on specific nature of the texts that learners need knowledge of or need-
related nature of teaching. In this regard, it is important to cite according to Hutchinson and
Waters (1987) “ESP as an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content
and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning” ( p.19). Strevens (1988) described it
(ESP) as English language teaching which is designed to meet specified needs of the learner (as
cited in Tsao, 2011). In reality, the research and the assessment of ESP course effectiveness
showed that ESP is more effective to develop learners’ calibre in English. Pertaining to this, Chen
(1993) points out, “…ESP is more effective in increasing students’ learning motivation because it
relates to their fields of study and caters to their needs” (as cited inTsao, 2011). So, ESP should
properly be seen not as any particular language product but as an approach to language teaching-
learning which is directed by specific reasons for learning.
Researchers and linguists found ESP is more useful for teaching professionals because it enables
them “…to cater for their learners’ specific needs and save a lot of time and energy (as cited in
Rajabi & Azarpour, 2011). So, ESP practitioners have lots to do to make ESP classroom effective
ground for learning. It is significant to mention here that “…the ESP instructor has as many as
five key roles to perform: teacher, course designer and material provider, collaborator,
researcher, and evaluator….” (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998). This fact underlines ESP
teachers’ constant involvement in learners’ needs analysis for effective teaching-learning. In case
of ESP for Business Studies, ESP practitioners should analyse how the learners can develop
effective communication skills in business dealings, conferences, negotiations and job
interviews. Nunan (1993) rightly claims, “Needs analysis is one of the elements that
distinguishes traditional views of language learning and teaching from the communicative
perspective towards the issues” (as cited in Rajabi & Azarpour, 2011). Practically, it is observed a
mismatch between the content of ESP textbooks and actual workplace language demands. It is
imperative to recognize and rectify the mismatch for effective teaching-learning through the
correlation between what students learn in classroom and what needs of local/international
employers. To enable the learners to perform the best and to make effective communication in the
workplace, ESP for Business Studies needs to focus on the following issues directly to meet the
students’ pragmatic needs:
Impression management (IM) leading to convey the best impression possible while
interacting with other people
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 63
The art of successful Meetings and successful Presentations practice options
Facilitating students with audio-video series to watch and learn professional conversations,
teleconferences, negotiations or job interviews
Model practices for cross-border communication with colleagues and clients
Better listening and speaking skill techniques for effective commercial meetings and
teleconferences
Effective mode of written communication techniques
Students’ immersion in audio-video led lessons relating to business conferences,
conversations and negotiations
Commercial vocabulary for effective communications in real business situations, and
Effective intercultural communication skills by learning other peoples’ cultures, behaviours
and communication styles
Apparently, the diverse information reflects that ESP teaching-learning is directed by a kind of
students’ academic and professional needs related analysis. Needs analysis may be different types
and purposes. Richards (1984) spells out that “Needs analysis may serve three basic purposes: It
can be used as a means of getting wider input into the content, design, and implementation of a
language programme; it can be implemented in defining goals, objectives, and content; and its
data can be used to review and evaluate a current programme” (as cited in Nunan, 1988).
Referring to this, Long (2005) cites four reasons for performing needs analyses:
“First, to determine the relevance of the material to the learners’ situations; second, to
justify the material in terms of relevance for all parties concerned (teacher, learner,
administration, parents); third, to account for differences in learner needs and styles,
fourth, to create a syllabus which will meet the needs of the learners as fully as possible
within the context of the situation” (Long, 2005).
Accordingly, Graves (1996) states that different students have different needs, and the
information gathered through needs assessment can help a teacher choose what to teach and how
to teach it (as cited in Rajabi & Azarpour, 2011). In doing needs analysis, teachers can explore a
variety “…of factual information about learners, their use of language in real life communicative
situations as well as their current language proficiency and language difficulties” (Brindley,
1989, p. 70).
Actually, it is undeniably the students of Business school need to be competent in English
communication skills because business communication plays a very important role in business,
industry or in any corporate sector. Cleland (1999, p.391) defines “Communication is the process
by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols,
signs, or behaviour” ( as cited in Saqlain, Qazi, & Simon, 2012). In today’s globalised business
contexts, people communicate through speaking English. That’s why; this research has laid
emphasis more on students’ speaking and participation, not teacher lecture as in traditional
English classes. Students, in Business English classes, need to expose near to global business
matters pertaining to relevant topics such as- presentations, meetings, business-affairs across
cultures, advertising, marketing and many others. So, considering employers and employees’
need, ESP for Business Studies is necessary to develop students’ Business communication skills that
can enhance professional performance and create new career opportunities.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 64
Review of the literature
In South-East Asian context, available research in the field of workplace needs related practical
ESP for Business School is very rare. Globally, in the vicinity of ESP teaching-learning
development, researchers have attempted to contribute available insight into the matter. This
paper looks into the relevant available research information on this issue across the globe.
Needs analysis is very important to ensure suitable and quality textbook for the ESP learners of
any discipline at any context. Referring to this, Bouzidi in his research in Moroccan context spells
out that “Choosing an ESP textbook or determining the suitability of one already in use is
accomplished by a needs analysis that documents the type of workplace” (Bouzidi, 2009).
Learners’ specific needs analysis is a matter of fact in order to design ESP curriculum and
effective pedagogy. Regarding students’ need related teaching and learning, Kaur & Khan in a
research points out “English language is deemed significantly important in almost every area of
discipline especially in this globalised era where communications among individuals all over the
world are borderless and through a variety of channels. With the globalization of trade and
economy and the continuing increase of international communication in various fields, the
demand for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is expanding, especially in countries where
English is taught as a foreign language (Gao, 2007)…Dominant areas in ESP are now Business
English and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and course design issues need to take into
account the target learning needs of ESP students” (Kaur & Khan, 2010, pp. 1-16).
Considerably, Payman Rajabi & Nazli Azarpour, in a study on the academic needs of the
Business Administration students in the use of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), point out that
“… reading and writing skills have great importance in classroom practice while speaking got
high priority in success in future jobs of these students” (Rajabi & Azarpour, 2011).
Esteban and Marios reflect in their study that “…the ESP teacher’s task is to define students’
learning needs and assume the role of language consultant, while the content teacher is the
provider of what Dudley-Evans & St John (1998) term carrier content, as well as of professional
skills consultant in different situations” (Esteban & Marios, 2002, pp. 7-21).
Very often it is found that there is a gulf between the content of ESP textbooks and actual
workplace needs and demands. Hassan Bouzidi, regarding this issue, rightly implicates that
“Using the textbook as the sole instructional guide, from cover to cover, without any
supplemental material, will not address the realities of individual learning situations. By
getting to know the real needs of learners and their potential employers, ESP teachers
can judge the distance between classroom material and the requirements of the workplace
and be able to bridge that gap” (Bouzidi, 2009).
Leading linguists and experts in the field of Curriculum design opine that
“ …authentic texts for a successful instruction should be designed to expose students to a
variety of learning styles, linguistic and learners’ intra socio-cultural contexts including
issues or content areas with a focus on communication, with a view to developing
cognitive skills and understanding cultural variations” (Liton, 2012).
It is undeniable the fact that authentic textbook is a highly significant factor to develop effective
teaching-learning practices in the real life situation and to fulfil the employee’s needs in the
workplace. In this vein, Lee states that “a careful and wise selection of materials focused on
learners is a must if we want a positive response from them” (Lee, 1995, pp. 323-328). Kaur &
Khan suggest that “The ESP course should include workplace-based oral presentations,
specialized vocabulary activities and course materials and topics relevant to students’ area of
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 65
specializations” (Kaur & Khan, 2010). In addition, Rivas (1999) and Mishan (2005) argue that
learners’ interests and needs are the most essential factors in the choice of authentic texts.
Seemingly, this aspect of the related literature review underpins the significance and value of the
current study.
Methodology
Research context and participants
The study was conducted among ESP instructors who were teaching English for Business
Administration in different universities of South-East Asia. This paper aims to facilitate
developing “in students a relatively high level of competence in reading, and an intermediate
level of competence in listening, speaking, writing, and translating so that students can
communicate in English” in real life situation (Team, 1999, p. 01).
The participants of this study were chosen on random basis. A total of 30 ESP teachers took part
in this study. We took in our purview some universities like Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang,
Bangladesh Islami University (BIU), Dhaka, University of Panjab, Pakistan, Sana’a University,
Yemen, Kuwait University, Kuwait and Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. Presumably, this survey
will underscore a clearer view of the overall standard of ESP courses and reflect the learners’ real
needs for future employment.
Data collection & questionnaire
The methodology of this research maintains both quantitative and qualitative approach. The
mechanism of data collection for this study encompasses one page written research questionnaire
(See Appendix 1). The researcher sent questionnaire to 36 ESP teachers via e-mail, Facebook and
Skype in between January and February of 2013. There were multiple choice questions as well as
question asking for short suggestions, offering the respondents a free rein. The pedagogical goal
of the survey was explained in the appendix, and asked the participants to answer the questions.
They answered the questionnaire quite willingly, and most of them made some precious
suggestions. The questionnaire for this research quests for teachers’ evaluations and suggestions
about ESP learners’ needs related learning for their future workplace. Importantly, such research
type is useful as
“personal reflections are integral to the emerging analysis of a cultural group, because
they provide the researcher with new vantage points and with opportunities to make the
strange familiar and the familiar strange” (Marshall & Rossman, 2006, p. 100).
Out of 36, a total of 30 questionnaires were returned representing a response rate of 83%.
Results
Data analysis
The data of questionnaire are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively in order, “to stress the
unique strengths of the genre for research that is exploratory or descriptive” (Marshall &
Rossman, 2006, p. 60). The collected data of questionnaire were sorted out, and the percentage of
teachers offering the same answer was computed. The questionnaires were tabulated to record the
responses from each participant for each option of the questions. Typically, throughout the data
analysis processes, according to Creswell, the researchers “seek to identify and describe patterns
and themes from the perspective of the participant(s), then attempt to understand and explain
these patterns and themes” (Creswell, 2003, p. 203). Tables are drawn below to sum up the
frequency of responses to almost all the questions (See Tables).
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 66
In the first question, the respondents were asked, “Does the textbook cover the situations learners
are likely to encounter in their future professional environment?” 10% of the respondents
answered “Yes” while 70% of them answered “No”. 20% of the respondents chose, “Partially”
option (See Table-1).
Table 1
Does the textbook cover the situations learners are likely to encounter in their future
professional
environment?
Choices Answer Percentage (%)
Yes 03 10
No 21 70
Partially 06 20
The majority of the teachers report that current ESP course in use does not address the situational
lessons related to future professional environment. It is anticipated that irrespectively the
participants are very much concern about effective teaching-learning game which sounds positive
reaction. So, while preparing the content for a course, the course designers must draw up an
inventory of topics and situations that are relevant to students’ needs and are likely to motivate
learning. Consequently, they will be able to carry out the basic communicative tasks required in
the Business and corporate organization. For example, the contents of particular units: Chairing
a meeting, and Giving talks and presentations, are more suitable for employees in managerial
positions.
The 2nd question asked the teachers, “Do you think ESP course properly addresses the needs of
the Business department’s students who you are teaching?” In answer to this question 27% of the
participants answered “Yes”, while 43% of them replied “No” and 30% for “partially” option.
(See Table-2)
Table 2
Do you think ESP course properly addresses the needs of
Business School students whom you are teaching?
Choices Answer Percentage (%)
Yes 08 27
No 13 43
Partially 09 30
Figure 1
a Yes
b No
c Partially
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 67
The response of a large portion (43%) of the teachers highlights more on unsuitability of the ESP
course design. Nevertheless, the presence of positive (27%) impression on this course avows the
appropriateness of course design in a miniature scale. However, the overall response suggests
redesigning the ESP course in keeping with learners’ future workplace needs.
The 3rd question seeks to know the range of suitability of the contents of existing ESP course for
learner-centred practice oriented for better learning outcome. 10% of the participants selected
“Yes, Completely” option while 63% of them made a choice “No” and 27% for “Partially” option
(See Table-3).
Table 3
Does the text material lay emphasis more on learner centred
than teacher centred approach for better
learning outcome?
Choices Answer Percentage (%)
Yes,
Completely 03 10
No 19 63
Partially 08 27
The response of a vast number of the respondents draws attention to the fact that the contents of
existing ESP text are not wholly learner-centred and task-based practice oriented. On the other
hand, the presence of positive response for the ‘complete’ and ‘partial’ suitability of the course
curriculum underscores a subtle line that any curriculum design and policy needs to be adequately
scrutinized to ensure students’ real needs in the workplace.
In the 4th question, the respondents were asked, “Does the course develop your students’
communication skill (e.g., speaking and writing skill)?” In terms of the three choices: 10% 0f the
participants chose “Completely” option; 30% “Partially” option and 60% answered in the
negative (See Table-4).
Table 4
Does the course develop your students’ communication skill
(e.g., speaking and writing skill)?
Choices Answer Percentage (%)
Completely 03 10
Partially 09 30
Not at all 18 60
Figure 2 Does the course develop your students’ communication skill?
Series1, a
Completely,
3
Series1, b
Partially, 9
Series1, c
Not at all, 18
y = e1.0117x
R² = 0.964
Series1
Expon. (Series1)
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 68
The answers of this question find nuance of expressions, and perceptions about learners’ progress
in communicative skills like Speaking and Writing. It shows partial advancement of learners in
communication skill, but a notable portion (60%) of them observes a sheer disappointment in the
required field of competence. This impression underscores the unsuitability of textual material
which does not capture the learners’ appropriate need and demand. So, it subtly manifests that
existing ESP textbook is not tailored appropriately according to the students’ needs in the
workplace.
The 5th question seeks to receive the teachers’ opinion on the use of functional and technical
terms related to Business as if learners can use in their future professional environment. 87%
selected “Yes” while 13% selected “Partially” option. (See Table-5)
Table 5
Do you think the ESP text should cover functional language (terms related to Business)
learners are likely to use in their future professional environment?
Choices Answer Percentage (%)
Yes 26 87
Not at all 00 00
Partially 04 13
The overwhelming responses of the participants show their awareness of ESP teaching-learning
norms and forms. This course is designed to improve the learners’ competence in particularly
communicative skills as well as to determine their specific skills related to workplace demand.
Accordingly, it is suggested that ESP course should cover technical terms and terminologies
related to Business Studies, for example, Balance sheet, Debit/ Credit, Profit & Loss account,
Gross/ Net Profit, Schedule, Bill of Exchange, Balancing, and the like.
Finally, the 6th question offered a free reign to the participants to give more suggestions or
comments for formulating an effective and pragmatic ESP course. Majority of them offered
suggestions but few did not have any. ESP practitioners’ suggestions are reported into structured
answers. 77% respondents suggested that ESP course curriculum should be redesigned in keeping
with the learners’ needs in the workplace and demand of the competitive job market. 83%
participants laid emphasis more on listening, speaking, and writing skills respectively to secure
communicative competence as if the learners can develop borderless communication which are
the foremost demand of the global job market. 80% of the respondents pointed out that
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) needs to be integrated into ESP teaching
which marks as a step ahead of teaching effectiveness. Interestingly, 73% participants suggested a
very ground-breaking and effective implication that the ESP learners should be exposed to the
opportunity to video-led lessons related to a variety of business professions which are likely to
motivate learning. (See Table-6)
Indeed, the varied suggestions from the majority of the participants recall that the promising ESP
practitioners were concerned with the upshot of their students’ needs in the real life situation.
Predominantly, the teachers (83%) underlined that listening, speaking and writing skills should be
given high importance to develop communicative competence which is the main concern of
workplace.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 69
Teachers’ Table 6
ESP teachers’ reflections from data analyses
Sl. No Suggestions Answer Percentage (%)
1. More practical ESP curriculum to be redesigned in keeping
with the learners’ needs in the workplace and demand of
the corporate job market
23 77
2. ICT Integration in ESP classroom – a step ahead of
teaching effectiveness
24 80
3. The learner should be exposed to video-led lessons related
to variety of business professions
22 73
4. More emphasis on listening, speaking, and writing skills 25 83
5. Teaching students to communicate confidently across
countries and cultures in a range of business situations
20 67
Source: data analysis of questionnaires
Discussion
This paper examined the diverse information on workplace ‘needs’ related ESP teaching-learning issues for
business studies based on statistical data analyses and revealed the following points of hypotheses:
Problem issues:
Unsuitability of course design:
(60-65) % teachers’ responses underline the fact that the contents of existing ESP text are not wholly
learner-centred and task-based practice oriented and it is not tailored appropriately according to the
students’ needs in the workplace (Table- 3 & 4).
Irrelevant course materials:
The current ESP course in use does not address the situational lessons related to future professional
environment (70%, Table-01).
Interactive communication skill ignored:
The current textual material fails to capture the learners’ essential skill like communication competence
which is the appropriate need and demand of the workplace.
More teacher-centred than learner-centred approach:
ESP class is more teacher-centred than learner-centred because text materials are not learner-centred and
task-based practice oriented.
Viable suggestions:
This paper divulges some viable suggestions for making a pragmatic ESP course to meet students’
workplace needs.
Pragmatic course design:
While preparing the contents of an ESP course for School of Business, the course designers must lay
emphasis on topics and situations that are relevant to students’ needs to carry out the basic communicative
tasks required in the Business and corporate organization. The overall research analyses underscore to
redesign the ESP course in keeping with learners’ future workplace needs with special emphasis on
communication skills like speaking, writing and listening.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 70
Steps to success:
The textbook should be facilitated with DVD series of effective phone calls, teleconference, or business
negotiations to develop students’ listening and speaking skills. It provides chances to the students to know
how to successfully take part in a teleconference, a negotiation or a job interview. In this way, they build up
the language and skills they need to communicate in the workplace and business situations.
Cross-border communication practices:
In the textbook, there should be some options for practices in the form of writing messages, ordering and
queries, sending information from one farm/country to another farm/country, or some reading passages in
such forms. So, it is important to expose students to communicate confidently across countries and cultures
using international Standard English in a range of business situations.
Watch & learn:
Video-led lessons of successful Meetings and Presentations are to be conducted in highly technology
facilitated classrooms. It allows students to watch and analyse the skills in action and progress.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration:
ICT integration into ESP teaching-learning is a step ahead of teaching effectiveness.
Inclusion of business terminologies:
Additionally, ESP course should be facilitated with the opportunity to learn the technical terms and
terminologies related to Business Studies (such as- Debit/ Credit, share issue, balance sheet, cost and
liability etc.) as if students can use those in their future professional environment.
Variables:
Supplementing the textbook with extra materials:
Using the textbook as the sole instructional guide, from cover to cover without any supplemental material,
will not address the realities of individual learning situations. By providing the real needs of learners and
the requirements of the workplace, ESP practitioners can bridge the gap and produce the future potential
professionals.
Conclusion
The current study divulges certain effective implications emerging from the survey results and analyses.
First, pragmatic ESP course should be redesigned in keeping with learners’ future workplace needs with
special emphasis on communication skills like listening speaking and writing.
Second, the textbook should be facilitated with DVD series of effective phone calls, teleconference, or
business negotiations in order to build up students’ communication skills in the workplace and business
situations.
Third, the learner-centred task-based communicative approach should be adopted as a mode of teaching in
the ESP classroom.
Fourth, for effective teaching, ICT (e.g., audio, video, internet or art movies) integration into ESP teaching-
learning should be a paramount focus as a demand of the time.
Finally, it can be suggested to supplement the textbook with extra materials or activities through continuous
practice of learners’ needs analysis in order to expose them more near to workplace learning with a view to
reducing the poor performance. After all these adaptations and conversions, it will kindle the tunnel of hope
for an effective workplace needs related pragmatic ESP course for Business studies. It is indeed, the present
paper will continue to provide very important information to the ESP professionals, course designers and
students of Business studies for effective ESP teaching-learning in any TEFL situation.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 71
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This is a substantially revised version of a paper presented at the 5th International Language Learning
Conference 2013 (5th ILLC 2013) dated from 11November to 13 November 2013 in Universiti Sains
Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. The author of this study expresses his thanks to Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi
Arabia for financial support to join the Conference.
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Revised ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Dudley-Evans, T., & St. John, M. (1998). Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinary approach.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Content Teacher, and the Students. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses , 15, 7-21.
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centred approach.
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Long, M. (2005). A rationale for needs analysis research: Second language needs analysis. (M. H. Long,
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(Inc 1st pub. 1989).
Mishan, F. (2005). Designing authenticity into language learning materials. Bristol: Intelect Ltd.
Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centered curriculum: A study in second language teaching. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Rajabi, P., & Azarpour, N. (2011). Academic needs of Iranian business administration students in ESP
classes. Contemporary Online Language Education Journal , 1, 20-32.
Saqlain, N. -u., Qazi, W., & Simon, H. C. (2012). Effect of Teaching Methodologies for Business
Communication at BBA Level in a Pakistani Classroom. European Journal of Scientific Research
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Schleppegrell, M. J. (1991). English for Speciflc Purposes: a program design model. English Teaching
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Foreign Language Education Press & Higher Education Press.
Tsao, C. H. (2011). English for Specific Purposes in the EFL Context: A Survey of Student and Faculty
Perceptions. The Asian ESP Journal , 7- 2, 126-149.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 72
Appendix 1
Dear ESP Practitioners, I have undertaken a research under the caption “ESP Learners’ Needs Related
Learning for the Workplace: A Pragmatic Study for School of Business”. Teachers’ perceptions, reflections
and suggestions are highly important to make teaching materials more practical to students’ needs and
professional practices. Survey data will only be used for research purpose. Therefore, you are requested to
answer all the questions below carefully. I appreciate your cooperation with thanks.
Hussain Ahmed Liton, Lecturer, English Language Centre, Jazan University
Teachers’ Questionnaire
1. Does the textbook cover the situations learners are likely to encounter in their future professional
environment?
a) Yes b) No c) Partially
2. Do you think ESP course properly addresses the needs of the DBA students who you are teaching?
a /Yes b) No c) Partially
3. Does the text material lay emphasis more on learner centred than teacher centred approach for better
learning outcome?
a/Yes, completely b) No c) Partially
4. Does the course develop your students’ communication skill (e.g., speaking and writing skill)?
a) Completely b) Partially c) Not at all
5. Do you think the ESP text should cover the functional language (terms related to Business) learners are
likely to use in their future professional environment?
a/Yes b) Not at all c) Partially
6. Do you have any suggestions that may fulfil ESP learners’ needs? If so, please mention here:
——————————————————————————
About the author
Hussain Ahmed Liton is a Lecturer at English Language
Centre, Jazan University, KSA. He has got widely published
more than a dozen research articles in international journals. He
is an Editorial Board member of International Journal of
Instruction, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, TURKEY, ESP
World Journal, Russia and The Journal of Teaching English with
Technology (TEwT), Poland. He presented his research paper at
5th (5th ILLC 2013) International Language Learning Conference
in Malaysia and 1st Tri-ELE International Conference 2014,
Bangkok, Thailand. His research interests are ELT, ESP,
professional development, Post-Colonial Literature, Diaspora
Asian English Literature, and Cultural studies. He is pursuing
PhD research in Post-colonial English Literature. His both B.A
(Hon’s) and M.A are in English Language and Literature from
Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh, with distinction.
He can be reached at husal@jazanu.edu.sa; haljusa@gmail.com
Return to Table of Contents
http://www.tewtjournal.org/
http://www.tewtjournal.org/
mailto:husal@jazanu.edu.sa
mailto:haljusa@gmail.com
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 73
Editor’s Note: The digital Millennium Communications Act (DMCA) added restrictions to the use of
copyrighted materials for educational purposes. The natural response was the open source movement. It is
notable that IBM abandoned its development of server software because open source Linux, perfected by
hundreds of thousands of expert users, was better than the IBM product. It is also notable that the
Wikipedia, despite badmouthing by publishers and academics, has gone beyond what was possible with
traditional method of book publishing. Without the government and FBI support of publishers and media
producers, the classroom would have much richer resources and the economic value of a better and
cheaper education could have been realized. It also complicates the use of open source materials as this
paper clearly shows. The editors assisted the United States Distance Learning Association in opposing, or
trying to modify, the DMCA.
Case Study:
Using open education resources to design a competency-based course
Patricia Neely, Jan P. Tucker, Trevor Belcher
USA
Abstract
Open source content, also known as open educational resources (OER), includes free, accessible,
openly licensed (public domain) documents, media, lab activities, pedagogical materials, games,
simulations, etc. used for educational purposes (Kauppinen, 2013). Facing mounting pressure to
reduce the costs of a college degree, many colleges and universities are replacing high cost
textbooks with free or low cost open resources. This case study examines the course development
process for a competency-based course in organizational behavior that was built using open
educational resources. The paper includes an overview of the step-by-step process used for
course development and discusses the implications for the institution and faculty of relying on
open educational resources instead of textbooks.
Keywords: Open source content, open educational resources, curriculum design, course development,
OER, instructional design, course design, competency-based education, competency-based course design,
undergraduate course design, faculty workload
Introduction
Pressures to reduce the costs of a college education are increasing. In August 2013, President
Obama announced ambitious plans to increase affordability of college by introducing ranking of
colleges based on access and affordability (Lewin, 2013). Articles about whether college is worth
the cost have sprung up not only in U.S. newspapers and magazines, but also in international
publications. In December 2012, the Economist published an article titled, Higher Education:
Not What it Used to Be, in which the authors discuss how rising fees, increasing student debt,
with shrinking financial and educational returns, are creating the perception that a university
degree is not a good investment. These pressures are rooted in the fact that in the past 30 years,
the cost of a college degree has increased over 1000% (Jamrisko & Kolet, 2012). Public pressures
over escalating tuition rates are forcing colleges and universities to look closely at ways of
reducing student costs. One way to reduce costs is to reduce or eliminate the need for students to
purchase expensive textbooks.
Textbook costs are estimated to be $1,200 per academic year (Senack, 2014). The textbook
industry is a $10 billion dollar industry (Rosenweig, 2013). College textbook costs have increased
82% over the past decade, four times the rate of inflation (Scholarly Resources and Academic
Coalition, 2014). For students already struggling to pay college tuition and fees, textbook costs
can crush their goal of earning a college degree. In a survey of 2,000 students, an overwhelming
majority (82%) indicated that free online access to a textbook would help them to perform better
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 74
in a course (Grasgreen, 2014). See Figure 1 for a graphical representation of the increase in
textbook prices.
College administrators and faculty with little control over the tuition rate have power to lower
costs for students by reducing or eliminating the need to purchase expensive textbooks. Faculty
design courses using textbooks created by publishers, who are often accused of changing editions
to keep textbook prices high (Grasgreen, 2014). Faculty can decide to forego textbooks or to
select books that are less costly for students. A growing movement among college and
universities, like University of Maryland University College, is to build programs using open
educational resources (OER). OER offers opportunities to colleges to increase access to college
and to save students and institutions significant amount of money (Bliss, et al, 2013; Hilton &
Wiley, 2011).
Figure 1: CPI for College Textbooks vs. Consumer Price Index for All Goods
(http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/09/chart-of-the-day-the-college-textbook-bubble/)
Open educational resources can include full courses, degree programs, course materials, modules,
syllabi, teaching notes, textbooks, research articles, podcasts, videos, assessments, simulations,
databases, software applications, and various other types of educational materials. Open
educational resources (OER) are defined as “teaching, learning and research materials in any
medium that resides in the public domain and have been released under an open license that
permits access, use, repurposing, reuse and redistribution by others with no or limited
restrictions” (Atkins, Brown & Hammond, 2007, p. 7).
Nearly two-thirds of all chief academic officers agree that open education resources have the
potential to reduce costs at their institutions (Allen & Seaman, 2012). OER is also expected to
increase access to higher education for millions of students worldwide. OER has the potential to
lower the direct cost per institution of developing high quality learning materials, provide unique
opportunities for institutions to offer low enrollment courses/programs in a cost effective way,
and to radically reduce textbook costs (Anderson & Elloumi, 2004). The marginal costs for
replicating and sharing digital resources is near zero.
To better understand how open educational resources can be used, this paper provides an
overview of OER and examines the experiences of academic administrators in adopting open
educational resources for an undergraduate course in business; Introduction to Business.
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/09/chart-of-the-day-the-college-textbook-bubble/
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 75
Open Educational Resources
A variety of types of OER are available for use in courses. The most popular option among open
educational resources is e-books; however, there are a variety of open resources available
including full courses, degree programs, simulations, articles, podcasts, videos, learning objects,
and software applications (MIT Open Courseware, 2014). The term OER refers to openly
available materials and does not indicate that the materials are available online or in digital
format (UNESCO/COL, 2011). Resources may be free for use, but they could be in formats that
have to be printed rather than downloaded from the internet.
For learning content to be considered open, it should be available free over the internet and offer
few, if any, barriers to the use of the resource. Open in this regards means an ability to reuse
(unaltered, as is), revise (adapt and modify the content, such as a translation), remix (combine the
original content or revisions, creating something novel), and redistribute (share copies of the
original, revised or remixed content). Faculty, institutions, and learners can download OER and
use them for learning activities either inside a formal course or as an informal resource.
Institutional advantages of using OER are many including enhancing the reputation of the
university, extending reach to new users and communities, improving recruitment of students,
supporting access and wider participation, offering opportunities for innovation and
experimentation with new materials and technologies, and supporting collaboration and
partnerships (Hodgkinson-Williams, 2010). Lowering costs for delivering a course also improve
the institution’s ability to deliver an educational program at a lower cost to students.
Open education for all citizens was first introduced with the creation of The Open University,
founded in the United Kingdom in 1969 (Coulon, 1998). The early focus was on providing open
educational resources for non-commercial purposes. One of the most well-known OER
initiatives is The OpenCourseWare (OCW) project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) launched in 2002 (MIT, 2014). Other efforts around open resources include the Open
Learning Initiative from Canegie Mellon, Connextions from Rice University, the University of
Leicester’s OTTER Project, and Harvard Extension School’s Open Learning Initiative. An
integral support for the open education initiatives has been the Creative Commons organization
developed in 2002. The Creative Commons organization was created to develop copyright
licenses for open materials as well as to identify and lower barriers to research, data and materials
(Creative commons, 2014).
Significant barriers exist for the adoption of OER. For open educational resources to reshape
higher education, barriers including technical barriers, price barriers, permission barriers, and
limitations to the ability to adapt or build upon a resource will need to be addressed (Open
knowledge, 2014)). Garnering administrative support for the integration of open resources and
motivating faculty to change curriculum design processes can be challenging. Restrictive
intellectual property policies, lack of time for educators to develop and remix OER, reward
systems that fail to reward open educational activities, and a lack of strategic goals and leadership
can impede the development and adoption of OER within an institution (Bissell & Boyle, 2007).
Online University project
After being purchased by an investment group in 2011, an Online University (who will be
referred to as OU) was facing a number of challenges with re-inventing itself as a low cost
university. Key to the reinvention of the university was transforming current programs into
competency-based courses developed using open or low cost educational resources. To achieve
the university’s mission of providing programs priced low enough for students to self-pay
foregoing federal financial aid, keeping course development and material costs minimized was
critical. Also, the university had a commitment to provide open access to university courses
online.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 76
In early 2012, college administrators embarked on a major challenge with the re-creation of the
120 credit Bachelor of Business program. The first step in the process was to develop a single
course using free or low cost open educational resources. Support for the redevelopment of the
course was the dean of business, the vice president for academics, two faculty members, and an
instructional designer.
The course design process
Members of the course design work group had several years of experience in course design
including both traditional course design and competency-based program design. As the
Organizational Behavior course was the first course in the re-design process, one goal of the
process was to develop a set of steps to be used with the re-design of the other courses in the
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. See Figure 1 below for the steps the work group
took in developing the Organizational Behavior Course.
Figure 2 Steps in the Course Design Process
The first step undertaken in designing the course was to identify the competencies for the
program. The university’s goal was to convert all programs to a competency-based format
beginning with the Bachelor of Science in Business. Defining what a student needs to know and
be able to do upon graduations results in a set of competency statements. The vice president for
academics met with the advisory board for the college of business to identify a list of knowledge
and skills that new graduates needed to demonstrate upon graduation. Taking the information
provided by the advisory board, the dean for business worked with the faculty to finalize the
competencies for the Bachelor of Science in Business.
The second step in the course design process was to sort the competencies into courses. The
university wanted to use existing course numbers to reduce the number of regulatory hurdles. The
Step 10: Integrate the Content into the Course in the Learning Platform
Step 9: Develop the Content for Each of the Units within the Organizational Behavior
Course
Step 8: Select the OER Provider and Finalize the Contract
Step 7: Explore the Legal Requirements for Using the Identified OER
Step 6: Examine the Compatability of the OER with University Technology Systems
Step 5: Compare Organizational Behavior Competencies with OER
Step 4: Evaluate Potential OER for the B. S. in Business & Organizational Behavior Course
Step 3: Scan the Environment for OER That Match Competencies
Step 2: Group Competencies Into Courses
Step 1: Develop Program Competencies
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 77
dean of business and faculty members sorted the competencies into the existing course
framework. Each competency was mapped to the course(s) where it was addressed and to the
assessment where it would be measured.
Once the competencies were identified for the Organizational Behavior course, a scan of higher
education publications and a series of online searches using keywords were conducted. This third
step in the course design process included examining the proceedings from education conferences
such as Sloan-C, Educause, UNESCO, etc. for the latest information on open educational
resources. Administrators and faculty reached out to their professional networks for information
on OER. In addition to reviewing the results of web searches, discussions were had with online
library providers. The deliverable from the environmental scan was a list of potential partners
who offered free or low cost OER. Open educational resources that the committee reviewed
included:
OEDb
MIT Open Courseware
OpenStax
Merlot Online Courses
FlatWorld Knowledge
OER Commons
Currki.com
Ed.Ted.com
The fourth step in the process was to narrow the list of possible providers. The list of OER
providers was evaluated using criteria like cost, technology compatibility, student experience,
reputation, and ease of administration. Costs were a critical concern as the goal was to keep costs
for students as low as possible. Compatibility with the university’s learning management system
was critical in order to meet aggressive timelines established for re-designing the courses within
the Bachelor of Business program. Providing a quality educational experience for students was a
high priority for the university and any learning resources adopted needed to provide a high
quality learning experience for students. The university was in the process of building a
reputation as a new entity; therefore, the reputation of the OER provider was important. As a
small university with limited resources, ease of administration of the OER was critical to keeping
costs low. A short list of three OER providers was identified.
Delving into the actual content of the resource and comparing it to the competencies for the B.S.
in Business and the Organizational Behavior course was completed as the fifth step of the course
design process. The OER needed to align with at least 75% of the course competencies. The
content needed to include both text and graphics as the timeline for developing the course
prohibited the development of graphics. Faculty members were asked to supplement the OER
from the identified provider with faculty developed materials.
The sixth step in the course design process involved working with the vice president for
information technology (IT) to ensure that the selected OER could be integrated into the
university’s learning management system. The university wanted to provide students with single
sign on for all resources and the goal was to integrate all resources into the course itself rather
than requiring students to visit sites outside of the system.
Examining the legal requirements for working with a selected provider was completed in seventh
step of the course design process. The term open means different things in the context of OER.
While one resource may be used and modified by individuals and all types of organizations, other
licenses restrict use and the ability to modify and change a resource. A complicating factor from
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 78
a legal perspective was the fact that the university was a for- profit entity. Many open resources
are open only for nonprofit entities and cannot be used by for profit universities. A review of
providers’ websites as well as conversations with the providers by the university’s legal team was
required to ensure that open resources were truly open.
Once the legal requirements were reviewed the selection of the OER provider(s) was made in the
eighth step. A single or multiple OER providers may be selected. In this case, the faculty
member met with the dean of business, vice president for academics, and the vice president for
information technology to present the finding of the research and to select an OER provider. A
single provider was selected for the Bachelor of Science in Business and the Organizational
Behavior course. The provider offered e-books at a low price. The university paid a per student
cost to the OER provider for each e-book used. The work group selected the provider based on
the number of titles available and the willingness of the OER provider to allow textbook content
to be loaded into the university’s learning management systems.
The ninth step of the course design process was completed by a faculty member with support
from the dean of business and an instructional designer. The e-text was reviewed and content that
aligned with the individual units in the course was selected. Using the course competencies, the
faculty member developed a list of learning objectives for each unit. Using the learning
objectives, the faculty member tagged content by unit creating a spreadsheet mapping alignment
of objectives to the various sections of the text.
The final step in the process was to load the content into the learning management system. This
step required the support of the faculty member, instructional designer, and the IT staff. The
faculty member selected the content in the ninth step of the process; but, the faculty member’s
work was not finished. The faculty member had to review the content ensuring that the correct
content was loaded into the learning management system. Troubleshooting the layout of content
and ease of navigation were also tasks the faculty member completed with the IT staff.
What we learned
The lack of a single library or warehouse with open resources results in time consuming searches
for available resources. Even after spending many hours scanning for resources, the work group
felt there were probably additional unknown resources that may have been a better match for the
Organizational Behavior course and the Bachelor of Business program. Finding OER resources
can be an expensive undertaking for faculty taking many hours of work curating the available
resources. The course development process takes longer if the faculty member must find and
qualify OERs before segmenting content, designing engaging learning activities, and building
assessments.
The expectation should not be that available OER will align 100 percent with competencies or
learning outcomes in a course. There will be gaps in the content when compared with
competencies. Just as faculty in traditional courses supplements textbook materials, faculty in
competency-based programs should expect to supplement OER with additional learning
resources.
The amount of technical support required from the information technology team far exceeded
original expectations. In addition to the work evaluating compatibility with the learning
management system, the IT staff also spent many hours integrating the selected open education
resources into the university’s learning management system and working with the faculty member
assigned to the course to troubleshoot the integration of the resource. Many meetings occurred
between the technology team at the selected OER and the university’s IT team.
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December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 79
A creative commons license does not mean that a resource is without restrictions. Some of the
videos incorporated in the classes had to be removed to avoid any licensing problems. A similar
issue arose with some of the clipart placed in the online courses. Many of these images were also
removed and replaced with original photographs once again to avoid any potential licensing
infringement that might occur down the road.
Currency of OER materials can be problematic. OER providers may or may not update their
resources once the materials are posted online. The lack of standards with regards to updating
open resources means that all materials have to be reviewed closely for currency. Faculty
members selecting open educational resources may find it helpful to look at the date that a
resource was originally created and last updated to determine whether a resource is appropriate
for use in a new course. Scanning for all web links to ensure they are working is another task that
needs to be undertaken to ensure the content is up-to-date.
Conclusion
Well-developed open education resources are readily available for faculty designing courses.
Open educational resources have the potential to lower the cost of a college degree and improve
access to higher education, worthy goals in today’s higher education environment. For the
potential of open educational resources to be realized, a searchable database or library of
resources needs to be developed so that faculty designing courses can easily identify the resources
for a course like Organizational Behavior and also easily understand what limitations, if any, exist
with using an individual resource. Currently, using OER is challenging for the faculty member.
Finding and curating open resources is a daunting task. Foregoing the supplemental materials
available from textbook providers means that faculty members have an increased workload.
Support from an instructional designer and information technology staff is critical in adopting and
integrating OER into a course in a learning management system. Academic administrators
considering adopting a policy where open education resources are used system wide need to
balance the need to lower costs for students with the workload implications for faculty members
who design courses around open educational resources.
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education-week-kicks-congressional-briefing
Stacey, P. (2013, June). Government support of open education resources: Policy, funding, and strategies.
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 14 (2). (pp.67-80).
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (2013).
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_0 UNESCO Institute for Statistics (n.d.). Higher education. Retrieved from
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http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/28/textbook-prices-still-crippling-students-report-says#sthash.g6PE2GpR.dpbs
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http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/tertiary-education.aspx
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 81
About the authors
Dr. Patricia Neely has an Ed.D. from the University of Virginia, an MBA
from Averett University and a BS degree from Radford University. Dr. Neely
has a rich background in higher education administration including curriculum
design and development, program management and faculty supervision roles.
She specializes in the development of competency-based degree programs. Her
work experience includes leadership roles at Western Governors University,
Old Dominion University, and Kaplan University. She is currently a higher
education consultant specializing in competency-based education and resides in
Pounding Mill, VA with her family
E-mail: patneely.consulting@gmail.com
Dr. Jan Tucker has a PhD in Business Management from Northcentral
University, an MBA from Florida Institute of Technology and a BA degree in
Psychology from Auburn University. Dr. Tucker has over 20 years experience
in higher education in the areas of instruction and curriculum development,
over half of which have been in distance education. She has developed
undergraduate and graduate courses in Management, HR, Organizational
Behavior, Marketing, Finance, Research and Design and similar disciplines. In
addition, she spent over 10 years as a Human Resources consultant for several
Fortune 500 companies. Her research interests include the integration of
technology in education, disruptive innovation in higher education and change
management processes. She is currently resides in Tampa, Florida with her
family.
E-mail: jptucker@tampabay.rr.com
Dr. Joseph Belcher is an Assistant Professor in Ashford’s College of
Health, Human Services, and Science, where he teaches undergraduate
psychology courses such as Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods,
and the Capstone course. He holds his PhD and MS in Psychology from
Capella University and a BS with a double major in Ministry and Theology
from Mid-America Christian Ministry. Over most of the past two decades, his
educational and practical experience has allowed him the opportunity to serve
in various capacities such as pastoral ministry (ten years), counseling, teaching,
and administration. Dr. Belcher was born in Warren, MI, reared in Kentucky,
and currently lives in Virginia. He has been married for over two decades and
has one son. In his spare time he enjoys movies, spending time with his family,
and trying to learn guitar.
Email: jtrevbel@yahoo.com
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mailto:patneely.consulting@gmail.com
mailto:jptucker@tampabay.rr.com
mailto:jtrevbel@yahoo.com
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 82
Return to Table of Contents
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 83
Editor’s Note: Language learning is easier when built on familiar experiences and vocabulary. A needs
assessment or historical data is important to optimize language learning programs for specific groups of
learners.
The effect of prior knowledge questions on Iranian pre-
intermediate EFL learners’ performance in reading
comprehension
Yasaman Rouhani and Mohammad Ali Kowsary
Iran
Abstract
This study was carried out to find the effect of prior knowledge questions on Iranian Pre-
Intermediate English Language learners’ performance in reading comprehension. Two English
Institutes were used for the study. Sixty pre-intermediate learners in two thirty-learner groups
were used for the study. A pre-test was administered on both groups of learners before the
commencement of teaching. A post-test was administered after six weeks of teaching. Data was
analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. The findings revealed significant difference in
the performance of learners taught reading comprehension using prior knowledge questions.
Based on the findings, teachers are encouraged, among others, to use prior knowledge questions
to motivate and stimulate learners to use their relevant background knowledge to interpret and
understand new information in their reading comprehension texts. Curriculum planners and
textbook writers are encouraged to include prior knowledge questions as part of the activities
learners should be exposed to during reading comprehension lessons.
Keywords: Prior knowledge, performance, reading comprehension.
Introduction and background
Reading plays an important role in the life of the individual and the society. The main purpose of
reading is for understanding, interaction and comprehension of the author’s experiences
represented in symbols. Reading becomes meaningful only if a reader identifies and evaluates
symbols and ideas. For learners to achieve the above mentioned intellectual tasks, it is important
to develop reading strategies as an aspect of the reading process.
In recent years, many studies have been carried out on EFL reading strategies and skills. Most
researchers in their findings have attributed learners’ poor performance to lack of appropriate
methods of teaching reading. For instance, Oyetunde (2009) recognized the fact that the root
cause of poor reading in the schools and institutes is the method of teaching reading.
Hence, in his words, “a comprehensive examination of the teaching of reading is required”. The
research is also motivated by the observation made, by this researcher during one of her visit to
some institutes in Iran, to conduct a trial test of some instruments for assessing academic
achievement. This researcher discovered with dismay that majority of the pre-intermediate
English learners could not read the passages given to them let alone answer the questions. The
situation was so bad that this researcher feet she should investigate the cause of this problem. By
assessing the influence of prior knowledge questions on learners’ reading comprehension perhaps
this researcher will be able to advise teachers on possible ways of improving the teaching of
reading comprehension in the foreign language context.
Experimental background has been shown to have extra tremendous influence on reader’s ability
to understand meaning as intended by the author in a written communication. Adams & Bruce
(1982), Moon (1981), Smith (1978) have all, to varying degrees, stressed by importance of
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 84
experimental background to a reader’s success. Smith (1973) and Stevens (1977) say a student’s
apparent reading problem is often a problem of insufficient background. Smith (1973) argued that
comprehension and learning proceed by attaching the ‘new’ to the ‘old’. In the word of Adams
and Bruce (1982:37). Comprehension is the use of prior knowledge. Without prior knowledge, a
complex object such as a text, is not just difficult to interpret, strictly speaking, it is meaningless.
The above has clearly shown that experiential background is indispensable in the comprehension
of a text. It has also shown that researchers need prior knowledge to be able to comprehend a
given text. It is against this background that this researcher seeks to find out the influence of prior
knowledge questions on EFL pre-intermediate learners’ performance in reading comprehension in
Iran.
This, however, is often not the case. Most Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners, are deficient in
a basic reading skills and there is ample evidence that a high proportion of learners are at a stage
when they need further developmental reading instruction. Unfortunately, at this level there is no
reading instruction, except for the ‘comprehension lessons’ in their English classes which is
related to the ministry of education plan which as Oyentude (1987), and Umolu (1991, 1996)
observe serve as a test of reading compression rather than instruction. Teachers at this basic
foundation level unfortunately lack training in reading and reading instruction.
State of the problem
In general, many factors influence the comprehension of textbooks. These include socio-cultural
factors such as home background or experience at home, peer influence such as the absence of
reading by the society. There are also influences such as the absence of reading culture; linguistic
factors such as the level of vocabulary and the syntactic and semantic difficulty of the textbooks;
psychological factors such as motivation, interest and prior knowledge and pedagogical factors
such as teacher training, methods used in teaching reading and instructional materials.
Studies in the first language (Devine, 1981, Carroll 1972) regarding the influence of different
factors on reading achievement and comprehension have revealed that the situation is not same in
the second or foreign language situation. Factors, which have been found to be significant in the
first language situation, may not necessarily account for reading difficulties in a second or foreign
language situation. For instance, many studies in the first language have emphasized the
importance of home background, family size and parental concern for their children’s progress in
school (Douglass, 1964; and Thorndike, 1973). In a second or foreign language situation, there
are additional factors such as cultural factors, which impede the learners’ reading achievement.
Unoh (1980) identifies the reading problems of secondary school students as slow, poor
comprehension, poor recall, inadequate vocabulary, and inadequate reading interest.
The influence of some of the factor may be greater in real terms today, given the condition of
educational institutions in today’s Iran. These factors include, lack of qualified teachers, poor
classroom condition, and lack of reason materials, large class size and little or no encouragement
from parents, home, teacher and peer group. A factor which perhaps could contribute to this
persistent reading problem and which has not received much attention is the method used in
teaching reading and this is the focus of this study. Most studies in reading comprehension so far
conducted in Iran and other countries have concentrated on examining reading difficulty of
learners at the pre-intermediate and intermediate levels with focus on the texts being used.
However, there are reasonable grounds to suspects that other non-text factors, such as
pedagogical factors, affect reading comprehension as well. Literature search reveals that
pedagogical factors have relieved little or no attention in Iran. The absence of such crucial
information constitutes a problem. This has motivated the present study. The study is also based
on the premise that the comprehension of a reading passage depends on the interaction of a
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 85
number of factors, which can be broadly categorized into four: socio-cultural, linguistic,
psychological and pedagogical factors. The influence of these factors on the reader’s
comprehension especially in a second/foreign language situation is uncertain. There is, therefore,
the need to ascertain the extent to which pedagogical factors influence reading comprehension.
To this end, this study will focus on the influence of prior knowledge questions on Iranian pre-
intermediate EFL
learners’ performance in reading comprehension.
Review of related literature
Research findings have shown that learning proceeds primarily from prior knowledge, and only
secondarily from the presented materials. Prior knowledge can be at odds with presented material,
and consequently, learners will distort presented material. Neglect of prior knowledge can result
in the audience learning something opposed to the educator’s intentions, no matter how ell those
intentions are executed in an exhibit, book, or lecture.
To help people make the most of a new experience, educators need to understand how prior
knowledge affects learning. To the child who does not yet understand heat and temperature, for
instance no quick explanation can possibly resolve the contradiction between the hot desert and
the warm wool; it takes weeks or years for this understanding to emerge (Lewis, 1991).
Prior knowledge forces a theoretical shift to viewing learning as “conceptual change.” (Strike &
Posner, 1985; West & Pines, 1985). Previously learning was considered a process of
accumulating information of experience. Prior knowledge is the bane of transmission-absorption
models of learning. More absorption cannot account for the revolutionary changes in thought that
must occur. The child simply can’t absorb knowledge about wool, because prior knowledge about
heat renders incoming ideas nonsensical.
Prior knowledge exists not only at the level of “concepts,” but also at the levels of perception,
focus of attention, procedural skills, modes of reasoning, and beliefs about knowledge.
Trowbridge and McDermott (1980) studied perception of motion. Learners perceive equal speed
at the moment when two objects pass, whereas scientists observe a faster object passing a slower
one. Anzai and Yokohama 91984), Larkin (1983), and Chi, Feltovich, and Glaser (1990) studied
how students perceive physics problems and found they often notice superficial physical features,
such as the presence of a rope, whereas scientists perceive theoretical-relevant features, such as
the presence of a pivot point. Larkin, McDermott, Simon and Simon (1980) studied students’
solutions to standard physics problems and found that students often reason backwards from the
goal towards the known facts, whereas scientists often proceed forward from the given facts to
the desired unknown. Similarly, Kuhn (Kuhn, Amsel, & O’Loughlin, 1988) studied children’s
reasoning at many ages and found that children only slowly develop the capability to coordinate
evidence and theory in the way scientists do. Finally, Songer (1988) and Hammer (1991) studied
students’ beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge. They found that student sometimes
have beliefs that foster attitudes antagonist to science learning.
In summary, prior knowledge comes in divers’ forms. It affects how students interpret instruction.
While it may not prevent them from carrying out procedures correctly, it frequently leads to
unconventional and unacceptable explanations. Prior knowledge is active at levels ranging from
perception to conception to beliefs about learning itself. Moreover, its effects are widespread
through lay and professional population, from young children through to adults, and from low to
high ability students.
Implication of prior knowledge: learning as conceptual change
The overwhelming weight of the evidence of the importance of prior knowledge has formed
informed educators to fundamentally change the way science is taught. Perhaps because learners
are more likely to construct an interpretation that agrees with prior knowledge, and consequently
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 86
disagrees with the viewpoint of the teacher. Thus, the effects of prior knowledge require a change
from the view that learning is absorption of transmitted knowledge, to the view that learning is
conceptual change (Resnick, 1983; Champagne), Gunstone, & Klopfer, 1985). Over time,
learners need to accomplish the rarest form of change, a paradigm shift in their basic assumptions
about the natural world, and the accompanying ways they see, conceive, and talk about the world.
Conceptual change is a process of transition from ordinary ways of perceiving, directing,
attention, conceptualizing, reasoning, and justifying. Slowly learners transform prior knowledge
to accommodate new scientific ideas (Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzof, 1982).
Research objective
The objective of the study is to determine the effect of prior knowledge questions on Iranian pre-
intermediate EFL learners’ performance in reading comprehension.
Research question
To what extent does prior knowledge questions have influence on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL
learners’ performance in reading comprehension?
Hypothesis
Prior knowledge questions have no significant influence on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL
learners’ performance in reading comprehension.
Methodology
The subjects of the study were sixty (60) pre-intermediate EFL learners from two English
institutes, i.e. 30 learners from Farhang English Language Institute and 30 learners from Safir
English Language Institute. Farhang English Language Institute was used as the experimental
group while Safir English Language Institute was used as the control group. The learners in both
institutes were taught for eight (8) weeks. Three (3) reading comprehension tests were taken. The
comprehension questions were designed by the researcher so as to include some literal, inferential
and critical questions.
Research design
A quasi experimental non randomization control design was used. A pre-test was administered
prior to the commencement of teaching in order to establish the homogeneity of the learners. A
posttest was administered after eight (8) weeks of teaching to determine any probable changes in
the experimental group. More questions were included in the post test since it was felt that by the
end of the eight (8) weeks of teaching the learners would have been more familiar with the
passage.
Instrumentation
The instruments used for the study were reading comprehension passages from which test items
were drawn demanding learners use of prior knowledge experience. Six passages were carefully
selected from Active Skills for Reading, Book 1, 3
rd
Edition. The passages were selected because
the subject matter were of interest to both gender. The content of the passage was educative and
informative and adequately provided some of the needed items for the tests.
Administration of instruments
A pre-test on three passages was administered to both control and experimental groups to
establish the homogeneity of the learners. The experimental group was taught reading
comprehension using prior knowledge questions for eight (8) weeks while the control group had
their normal reading comprehension lessons taught by their teacher.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 87
A post-test (on the same three passages) was administered on the two groups after eight weeks of
teaching to determine the effect of prior knowledge questions on the performance of foreign
language learners in reading comprehension. T-test was used to test for significant difference in
the performance of learners from both groups.
Treatment
The teacher
i) Begins reading activities with what learners already know from home, community,
and school.
ii) Facilitates the reading and understanding of the comprehension passage by
introducing prior knowledge questions. Questions such as what does the title of the
passage suggest? What does the title remind you of? Does it remind you of a similar
experience?
iii) Designs instructional activities that are meaningful to learners in terms of local
community norms and knowledge.
iv) Acquires knowledge of local norms and knowledge by talking to learners’ parents or
family members, community members, and by reading pertinent documents.
v) Assists learners to connect and apply their learning to home and community.
vi) Encourages learners to utilize their prior knowledge and skills as a foundation for
new knowledge.
vii) Assists learners to make connections between what they already know and newly
acquired knowledge in order to strengthen and increase learners’ engagement with
learning activities.
Table 1
Presentation of test scores for pre-test for experimental and control groups.
A careful observation of table 1 above shows that the learners’ initial point of entry before the
commencement of treatment is at par. The difference in the standard deviation of learners’ scores
in the experimental and control group is very little. One can therefore say that learners in the two
groups are of equivalent reading ability at the point of entry.
Table 2
Presentation of test scores for post-test for both experimental and control groups
Table 2 shows that the mean and standard deviation of the experimental group appears to be
higher than that of the control group. This is probably because of the prior knowledge questions.
The control group was not exposed to any of such activities. Therefore one could say that the
schemata of the control group was not properly activated in the reading comprehension passages
as it did for learners in the experimental group.
Table 3 shows that the calculated value (7.062) is greater than the critical value of (2.201) at degree
of freedom 29 and at 0.05 level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis is rejected, meaning prior
knowledge questions influence learners’ performance in reading comprehension.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 88
Table 3
Presentation of test scores for pre-test and post-test for experimental and control groups.
Discussion of findings
There is a general increase in the level of involvement and participation of learners in the
experimental group probably because of the activities learners were engaged in. learners and
teachers were actively involved in the discussion of the passages before, during and after the
passages were read. In the lessons that were observed, learners generally showed keen interest in
the discussion. Each learner was eager to share his/her own experiences with the class. The
learners that were taught in the control group were not exposed to any prior knowledge questions.
Learners performance in the tests were generally low not because they lacked ability or because
they are poor readers but probably because learners were not exposed to prior knowledge
questions that could stimulate class discussions. They were passive most of the time.
It is also interesting to note that the learners in the experimental group performed very well in
literal inferential and critical questions. Their scores were higher than those of the control group.
This goes to confirm the studies of Odumuh (197), Oyetunde (2009), Smith et al (1993) Simon &
Simon (1980) and Chi,feltorich and Glaser (1990) which all point to the fact that the use of prior
knowledge questions helps learners to select important information from the text and also
encourages them to make use of their natural abilities to make and confirm predictions as they
read and perform reading tasks. Teachers should try as much as possible to design instructional
activities that will require learners to make connections to strengthen newly acquired knowledge
that will increase learners’ engagement with learning activities. Learners stand to benefit a lot if
they are actively engaged or involved in class discussions/ activities with their teachers.
Conclusion
Based on the findings of this research the learners taught reading comprehension using prior
knowledge questions gained more than those taught without prior knowledge questions. As a
matter of fact, learners were able to use their relevant background knowledge to interpret and
understand new information in their reading comprehension texts.
Recommendations
The following recommendations were made based on the findings of the research.
I. Teachers should be encouraged to use prior knowledge questions before, during and after
every reading comprehension passage.
II. Curriculum planners should be encouraged to include prior knowledge questions as part of
the activities learners should be exposed to in every reading comprehension lesson.
III. Textbook writers should include prior knowledge questions as part of learners reading
comprehension exercises. This will help learners to linke new information with what they
already know.
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
December 2014 Vol. 11. No.12. 89
IV. Teachers should encourage learners to participate actively in class discussions by
responding positively to the prior knowledge questions in the course of reading the
comprehension passages.
V. Teachers should always construct prior knowledge questions that will assist learners in
making use of their relevant schemata to facilitate the understanding of the reading texts.
References
Anzai, Y. & Yokohama, T. (1984. Internal models in physics problem solving. Cognition and Instruction,
1, 397-450.
Carroll, J.B. (1972) “Defining Language, comprehension: some speculation” in J. F. Carroll and R. O.
Freele (Eds) Language comprehension and the acquisition of knowledge. Washington DC:
Winston.
Champagne, A.B., Gunstone, R.F., & Klopfer, L.E. (1985). Consequences of knowledge about physical
phenomena. In L.H (1985). Consequences of knowledge about physical phenomena. In L.H.T.
West and A.L. Pines (Eds.), Cognitive Structure and Conceptual Change. New York: Academic
Press.
Chi, M.T.H., Feltovich, P.J., & Glaser, R. (1980). Categorization and representation of physics problems by
novices and experts. Cognitive Science, 5, 121-152.
Devine, J. (1981). Developmental patterns in native and non-native reading acquisition. In S. Hudelson,
(Ed.). Learning to Read in Different Languages, (Linguistics and Literacy Series 1). (ERIC
Document Reproduction Services No.ED 198 744).
Hammer, D.M. (1991). Defying commonsense: Epistemological beliefs in an introductory physics course.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.
Knorr, Karin. (1981). The manufacture of knowledge: An essay on the constructive and contextual nature
of science. Oxford: Pergammon Press.
Kuhn, D., Amsel, E., & O’Loughlin, M. (1988). The development of scientific thinking skills. San Deigo,
CA: Academic Press.
Larkin, J, H., McDermott, J., Simon, D.P., & Simon, H. (1980). Expert and novice performance in solving
physics problems. Science, H. (1980). Expert and novice performance in solving physics
problems. Science, 208, 1335-1342.
Larkin, J.H (1983). The role of problem representation in physics. In D. Gentner & A.L. Stevens (Eds),
mental models.
Lewis, E.L. (1991). The process of scientific knowledge acquisition of middle school students learning
thermodynamics. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of California, Berkeley.
McDermott, J.J. (1981). The philosophy of John Dewey. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
About the authors
Yasaman Rouhani is an M.A. Candidate in English Language Teaching, Islamic Azad
University, Tonekabon Branch, Iran
Mohammad Ali Kowsary has his M.A. in English Language Teaching, Hakim Sabzevari
University, Sabzevar, Iran
Email: kowsary@chmail.ir
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mailto:kowsary@chmail.ir
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