June 2004

The full June issue in PDF format

Structuring the Case Method for Asynchronous Online Learning
The case method, a staple of MBA programs, relies on student participation in a spontaneous and highly interactive environment. With some modifications, the case method can work in the asynchronous online classroom.

Cross-Cultural Web-Enhanced Course
Less than 1 percent of the students at Montclair State University in New Jersey study abroad. But if an idea recently implemented by Kathryn Martell, associate dean of the School of Business at Montclair State University, and a colleague in Hungary catches on, more students on campus will have an international learning experience.

Toward Accommodating Learning Diversity
By Yanyan Yong, Ph.D. and Anne Parrella, Ph.D.
An early promise of online education was accommodation of the learning diversity of students in ways that the classroom could not. This article will discuss the different ways online learning materials need to be organized and presented in order to accommodate differences in learning attitudes, expectations, and working assumptions that students demonstrate in their coursework.

Assessing a High-Enrollment Online Course
The University of Kentucky is working on developing standardized assessment for online instruction. “I think we’re like a lot of universities where everyone jumped on the online bandwagon very quickly, and a lot of courses went online that maybe were not at the level of quality [as face-to-face courses]. Now we’re starting to look at whether these online courses are really equivalent to face-to-face courses,” says Ruth Beattie, biology instructor at the University of Kentucky.

The Connection Between Instructional Interaction
The amount and method of instructional interaction with students can affect student persistence in online education, according to a study conducted by Steven Tello, associate director of distance learning, continuing studies and corporate education at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.