April 2008

Active Case Studies to Assess Student Learning
By Francis C. Pengitore, EdD
Students learn best when they are actively involved. Adult students learn best when activities are problem-centered and related to actual occurrences and personal experiences. For teachers working in an online environment, one method that can be used to capture and sustain student involvement is the case study. Actual cases have an intrinsic appeal because they help to connect theory with practice.

Sources of Power
Teachers have power in the classroom, but where does that power come from? Communication educators have taken a well-known typology of power and applied it to teachers. According to this theory-based schematic, individuals exert influence over other individuals based on five different sources of power. Here’s how these power bases work in the classroom.

Data-Mining Course Management Systems for Research, Faculty Recognition, and Faculty Development
By Joeann Humbert and Richard Fasse, EdD
The Rochester Institute of Technology’s Online Learning group manages the campus-wide course management system (CMS) now used voluntarily by over 60 percent of the faculty in 54 percent of course offerings. The Online Learning group has been data-mining information from the CMS for over five years to better understand what features are being used, which colleges and departments are using it the most, and what level of activities on key features are in each course.

Take the Poll!
Last month's question was "Has your campus implemented a cost-saving initiative that has produced good results? Have you been part of an effort to increase productivity and/or efficiency? Consider sharing your story with us...and tell us whether we can contact you for more information. As you might guess, this is a topic that there is a lot of interest in, and we'd like to share success stories in an upcoming online seminar on cost savings strategies."