Academic Exchange Quarterly Winter 2004 ISSN 1096-1453 Volume 8, Issue 4
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Realistic
Course Previews for Online Students
Thomas M. Brinthaupt, Middle
Tennessee State University
T. M. Brinthaupt, Ph.D., is
Professor of Psychology in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.
Abstract
The first day
of class is an important time for both students and instructors. Online student
expectations are likely to affect course success as well as instructor
evaluations. An approach designed to foster more realistic expectations among online
students is described. This approach, the “Realistic Course Preview” (RCP),
provides new students with recommendations and information from veteran students.
Several issues relating to the development and implementation of online RCPs as
well as how instructors can vary their RCPs are also discussed in the paper.
Introduction
The first day of class presents instructors with a variety of challenges.
As Kirp (1997) put it with regard to the start of a traditional course, he is
"as nervous as a host who wonders whether anyone will come to his party."
Typically, the first day of a class is filled with strangers who are not sure
what to say or how to act (Dorn, 1987). In attempting to define this situation,
students can rely on other students as well as the instructor to provide
clarity and direction. Much attention has been devoted to how instructors of
traditional courses can facilitate student "entry" on the first day.
It is important for students to be able to navigate academia and
understand their course expectations because these expectations can affect both
their learning and their course and instructor evaluations (Allgood et al., 2000).
Researchers have shown that students’ evaluations of traditional instructors
and courses at the beginning of the term are related to their evaluations at
the end of the term (Barke et al., 1983;
Parish & Campbell, 1977; Remedios et al., 2000). Such findings suggest that
first-day student impressions of instructor and course are likely to be
enduring. This highlights the importance of giving students a realistic and
accurate view of what they can expect.
Researchers have given little attention to online students’ expectations
about their courses and instructors. Just as with traditional courses (Davis,
1993; Wolcowitz, 1984), online students’ ability to navigate their courses and
understand course expectations are critical. Despite its importance, there is
very little discussion of how instructors initially introduce their course
content and teaching style to their online students. There has been much more attention
devoted to this question as it applies to traditional courses. In this paper, the
major issues related to the first day of class are reviewed and a simple,
powerful, and effective tool is described to enhance the accuracy of online
students' expectations for their courses.
The
First Day of Class
Instructors have a good deal of control over the first day of a
traditional class. Most of the students arrive at the appropriate time and
coordinates, and they are a captive audience for a set period of time. They are
likely to have some degree of anxiety and uncertainty, which can be addressed
by the instructor (Cowan & Piepgrass, 1997). Contrast this with the “first
day” of an asynchronous online class – students access the course remotely and
they come and go as they please. Online instructors are unable to immediately
answer questions and they usually have much less control over where students go
in the course and how long they stay there. Student anxiety and uncertainty are
also likely to be less obvious to the instructor and more difficult to reduce.
One strategy to facilitate students’ entry into an online course is to
require them to meet face-to-face for the first class. This allows instructors
much more control over what information they can present to their students and
better ensures that students understand administrative details. If online
instructors are able to meet students in person on the first day, then there
are a variety of tools and approaches they can employ. In a study of psychology
student opinions about what does and does not work well in traditional first-class
meetings, Perlman and McCann (1999) found that students liked course overviews
that specify the structure and organization of the course, as well as
instructors who provide some background about themselves. Students’ “pet
peeves” included first-day classes that used time poorly or were disorganized and
instructors who started course content that day.
There is a large literature of recommendations for the first day of traditional
classes (for good overviews, see Davis, 1993; Dorn, 1987; Wolcowitz, 1984). Recently,
Perlman and McCann (2004) reviewed several first-day goals or objectives for
instructors. These include establishing
rapport, communicating the nature and content of the course, highlighting important
aspects of the course, introducing oneself, detailing the texts, course
description and requirements, and discussing grading procedures and honesty and
cheating policies. Similarly, Davis (1993) described the three most important
tasks as handling administrative matters, creating a positive classroom
environment, and clarifying course expectations and standards. Most of these objectives
apply equally (if not more so) to online courses (Bolliger, 2003). However,
many online courses are asynchronous, creating special challenges for the first
day of class.
It is a real possibility that an instructor’s description of the workload
and evaluation procedures for a course (e.g., the amount of reading, the
difficulty of the exams, and how students will be graded) does not match the
descriptions provided by students who are veterans of that course and that
instructor. Students must interpret their instructors’ first-day impression
management behaviors and they may be incorrect in their guesses about what the
course and instructor will be like. It is probably more difficult for
instructors to reduce student anxiety and uncertainty in online courses than in
traditional courses. If students are taking all of their classes on the
computer, it may be more difficult for them to develop clear, accurate, and
individualized expectations for each course. As creatures of habit, students
may mistakenly assume (or wish) that all their online courses are organized and
taught the same way. Even experienced online students, while having generally accurate
expectations about online courses, may not necessarily have realistic or
accurate expectations about a specific online course or instructor.
It is probably safe to say that it is more difficult for students to form
first impressions of online than traditional instructors and courses. Online
instructors lack live interaction with their students (or are much more
constrained in that interaction). Students have fewer verbal and nonverbal
instructor behaviors from which to form impressions. Online courses present
more challenges and difficulties than traditional courses when it comes to
building a sense of community, instructors getting to know students, and
students getting to know instructors. In addition, online instruction likely
faces problems that differ from traditional courses in creating a positive
"classroom" environment. All of these reasons highlight how important
it is for online instructors to ensure that their course previews and
introductions (if they use them) are accurate.
There is likely to be wide individual variation in how online students approach
their first day of class. Some students may log in solely to check for specific
assignments or to answer an instructor’s welcome letter. Others may explore
their courses, examining (and printing out) as much content as is available to
them and trying to understand the organization and structure of those courses.
To what extent should instructors take their students “by the hand” on the
first day? On the one hand, it is possible to force students to access only
certain content at the beginning of class (e.g., by requiring them to read the syllabus
and take a test on its contents before other course content is opened to them).
On the other hand, this approach may be counterproductive if it encourages
students to continue wanting to have their hands held beyond the start of the
course.
In summary, online instructors can utilize many of the first-day ideas
and techniques that traditional instructors have developed, but only if they
are able to meet with their students in person. It would be helpful if online
instructors could use something that does not require meeting with their
students in person. The Realistic Course Preview is one such technique that has
advantages for both traditional and online courses. The unique benefits that this
approach brings to teaching online will be described in the remainder of this
paper.
Realistic
Course Previews
For many years, organizations have used Realistic Job Previews (RJPs) to
increase worker satisfaction and reduce turnover. Recruits receive a realistic
introduction to the organization that usually consists of balanced and unbiased
(i.e., both positive and negative) information about what it will be like to
work in that organization (Breaugh & Starke, 2000; Phillips, 1998; Wanous,
1992). Brinthaupt (2004) recently demonstrated that instructors can easily
adapt the RJP concept to address student course expectations. A Realistic
Course Preview (RCP) can provide students with balanced and unbiased information
about what the course will be like. If the RCP information comes anonymously
from fellow students, new students should perceive such information as more
accurate, believable, and balanced than if it came from the instructor. Veteran
students should be seen as having expertise with taking the course and should
be trusted more than the instructor. In essence, “rookie” students get the
“inside scoop” on what the course will be like from “veteran” students
(Moreland & Levine, 1989). This can be especially useful for online
students, given the potential difficulties these students may have in locating
course veterans and obtaining information about the instructor.
The reasons
RJPs might work in organizations (Breaugh, 1983; Meglino & Denisi, 1987)
apply equally well to why an RCP might work in online teaching. According to
the met expectations argument, an RCP may lower students’
inflated expectations, making it more likely that they will not be surprised by
the class or its instructor. For example, if new students are warned by veteran
students about the difficulty of the exams, the first exam may come as less of
a shock to them. The coping
idea suggests that RCPs may increase students’ abilities to handle the
stresses of the course, once they encounter those. An example here would be if
the RCP conveys the idea that the instructor is very flexible and helpful in
dealing with student problems.
RCPs may also lead students to perceive greater degrees of honesty from their instructors. The fact
that an instructor is providing a preview of the course that includes both
positive and negative information about him/her may suggest to students that
what the instructor tells them should be believed. Finally, according to the self-selection
argument, RCPs may increase the chances that students will match better their
needs or goals to the course. Thus, students expecting a good grade with little work may be warned
away from taking the course. Alternatively, students who are seeking specific content
or learning experiences that appear in an RCP may be more likely to take and
remain in the course.
An Illustration of an Online RCP
For several years, a Personality Psychology course has been offered as
part of the Tennessee Board of Regents Online Degree Program (RODP; can be
overviewed at http://www.syllabus.com/news_article.asp?id=9419&typeid=156).
The RODP program uses the WebCT format and class size is limited to 25
students. At the end of each semester, students in this course are given the
opportunity to evaluate it anonymously. The survey function in WebCT can be
used to administer such an evaluation. As one part of this course evaluation,
students receive the following question:
Suppose two naive students
approached you and told you that they were thinking of taking this RODP course
with this RODP instructor. Your task is to give these people a realistic preview
of what they can expect (in order for them to be better prepared for the
course). As a graduate of this course, what is one positive thing you’d tell
these students and one negative thing you’d tell them? Please be sure to
indicate
what was/were positive and what
was/were negative.
There are a
couple of points to notice about these instructions. First, students talk about
the course and instructor together rather than separately. For online courses
with multiple sections, it may be less important or necessary to include the
instructor in the RCP. Second, students are asked only for one
"positive" and one "negative" aspect of this particular
course and instructor, although students often provide more than one of either.
Finally, rather than asking students to respond to specific aspects of the
course or instructor, keeping this question simple, general, and direct seems
to work very well. Possible alternatives to these instructions will be
discussed later in this paper.
When new students
first log into the online course mentioned above, they receive a standard
“Welcome to the Course” letter. In this letter, they are directed to a “How
this Course Works” organizer page that includes the RCP (with the title Read
a Preview of what it is REALLY like to take this Course!!), a description of the structure and
organization of the course, and the
syllabus. On the RCP page, students read these instructions:
The following question was given to the most-recent
graduates of this course. Beneath the question are the actual responses given
by these students (with some minor editing of grammar and spelling). The
purpose of this information is to give you a realistic picture of what you can
expect in this course.
After the
original question and instructions that were given to the veteran students are
presented, those students’ responses follow. It is a simple process to cut and
paste student comments from the WebCT course evaluation survey into a separate
web page. If the instructor creates the RCP as a “content page” in WebCT,
student access to this page can be tracked. Listed below are some
representative student RCP responses:
o
You
can expect the exams to be a true challenge to what you have learned through
the course outlines. Make sure you know your stuff before going into the
test. A positive attribute is that the instructor is very flexible to
life's emergencies and you have midnight deadlines. One of the negative
things about the course is getting used to timed essay exams. It is
difficult to get all of the information down within the time allotted, which is
why it is important you know your stuff!!
o
You
will constantly be thinking about this course. You will analyze everyone and
assign them to a personality type. The most positive aspect about this course
is you understand more about your own personality and actions. The only
negative thing that I would say about the course is as soon as you contribute
to the discussion (and sometimes before) there is a new topic for you to
express your opinion on.
o
Positive:
Get ready for a look into yourself. There is a lot of fascinating topics
covered and the course is very organized. It's a great class, just not an easy
A class, you have to earn it! Negative: When I say he wants detail, he wants
DETAIL! Knowing the general gist of a topic will not cut it, know the
details!! This class is hard and you must study and be willing to
contribute some time and effort towards it.
o
You
will need to be prepared to read and follow all directions. There are ample
opportunities to learn in this course. Use the conversation board if you get
stuck. Additionally there are study guides for each chapter. A positive to this
course is the amount of information you are given to help you understand what
is going on. The negative side is the tests.....essays and multiple choice. You
have to have them, but they can be difficult. Study hard and be prepared! If
you do everything the professor states, you should be ok.
o
I
would tell them that the instructor is concerned with them learning and
enjoying the subject matter. I would also tell them to prepare to get to know
themselves like never before. To be sure that they studied all materials
thoroughly to prepare for tests. I would also tell them to brush up on their
writing techniques, because they are going to do plenty of it.
Brinthaupt
(2004) reported data evaluating both traditional and online RCPs. These data
showed that students (who received an
RCP at the start of the term) in both kinds of classes rated the RCP (at the
end of the term) as accurate, balanced, and helpful. In addition, they
remembered the RCP during the term and strongly recommended that it should be
used for future students.
Strengths of the RCP
Among the strengths of the RCP concept is that it is very flexible, easy
to implement, and easy to revise. It should be equally useful regardless of whether
the course is teacher-controlled or learner-managed and regardless of the kinds
of learning activities that are used (Coomey & Stephenson, 2001). By
changing the instructions, instructors can individualize their RCPs to fit
their needs. They can also change their courses if the RCPs indicate areas
where inaccurate expectations are a problem (such as regarding exam difficulty,
writing assignments, or reading amount). When a course's content, structure, or
organization is changed, those changes should be reflected in the previews that
veteran students give to new students.
An RCP is also a simple way to begin to establish rapport between
students and instructor. Students immediately get an "inside scoop"
on the course and instructor at the start of the term. This accurately conveys
to them how much work the course requires, what they are expected to do, what
their instructor is like, and what they will get out of the course. The RCP
also supplements instructors’ self-introductions because veteran students say
things about their instructors (either good or bad) that those instructors
might not normally include in their self-descriptions. Thus, some of the time necessary
for establishing rapport and getting to know the instructor can be saved on the
first day. To the extent that the RCP is accurate, students are likely to find
confirmation of their expectations as they move through the course and learn
about their instructor. Unpleasant surprises are less likely to occur and
student commitment to taking the course should be higher compared to not having
an RCP.
Perhaps most importantly, the RCP helps to create an immediate connection
between student and instructor that is difficult to create with online courses
and that usually develops informally and over a longer period of time. In
essence, the RCP directs students to attend to the critical features of the
course and instructor. The positives and negatives that appear in RCPs are
things that new students would not be aware of or be able to discern based on
either a traditional or online first-class meeting. Indeed, many of the things
present in RCPs would take much of the term to determine. It is difficult and
time-consuming for an online instructor to convey to students that he/she is
competent and cares about the students. However, an RCP can reduce that
difficulty by providing the views of students who are veterans of the course
and the instructor. Of course, an instructor still must demonstrate and confirm
that the RCP is accurate for a positive class environment to emerge. If
students' experiences contradict the RCP content, their reactions will probably
be more extreme than if they had not received the RCP.
Most administrative course details are concrete, specific, and explicit,
and most instructors in either traditional or online courses have little
trouble in explaining these to their students. However, there are also implicit aspects to both the course and
instructor that are more difficult to control or convey (Wolcowitz, 1984). This
is where RCPs can be particularly useful. As the earlier examples show, students
rarely focus on administrative details in their RCP responses. Rather, they
provide information on the implicit, less tangible, “atmospheric” aspects of
both the course and the instructor, such as the nature of student-instructor
interactions, the instructor’s attitudes and behaviors, and how course content
affects students. An instructor’s desired class atmosphere may not be the
atmosphere that veteran students experienced. RCPs increase the chances that
new students will understand the implicit aspects of the course.
In summary, RCPs are likely to increase the chances that students'
expectations will be met and reduce the chances of unpleasant surprises. By
alerting students to the demands and stresses of the course at the start, RCPs
can also increase the likelihood that students can prepare for and cope with
them. RCPs also help create an impression of honesty and straightforwardness on
the part of the instructor, something that might make students more comfortable
about approaching their instructor online. Finally, RCPs increase the chances
that the students who end up in our courses are better fits with our course
content, learning goals, and teaching style.
Limits, Variations, and Extensions
of the Online RCP
Despite the many good reasons for instructors to use an RCP, there are
also several questions about its structure and delivery. For example, when is
the best time to give
an RCP? Although RCPs can be given as
part of instructors’ first-day course introductions, there are other
possibilities. Instructors might post their RCPs outside of their courses. For
instance, the homepage of the RODP program lists public syllabi for all
courses. Instructors could include their RCPs on this public page in
conjunction with the syllabus. Or, instructors might include their RCPs on
their personal homepages and direct prospective students there. There are some
self-selection advantages to giving students a preview before they register for
the course. Whereas basing one's decision to take or not take a course solely
on the syllabus and an RCP may be reasonable for some students, instructors may
not be comfortable with possibly losing students before they have gotten a
complete picture of the course (such as the actual course content,
organization, calendar, etc.) by registering for it. Thus, it is probably
better to place RCPs within the courses.
How do the instructors ensure that students actually read the RCP?
In traditional courses, the instructor can deliver and discuss an RCP on the
first day of class. In contrast, online students can be led to the RCP, but
they cannot be made to read it. Although it is certainly an option to require
students to access the file before accessing other content or to complete a
test on its contents, it is probably better to not force them to read it.
Instead, it can be displayed prominently in the course and students can be told
of it in the welcome letter. In addition, students might
be asked to complete practice “tests” during the first week of class. On these
(not-for-credit) tests, students can answer questions about WebCT and indicate
that they have read the syllabus, show that they understand specific course
requirements and the course honor system, and note if they have read the RCP. Using
such practice tests and the student tracking option in WebCT, individualized
notes can be sent out to any student who still has not read the RCP after the
first week. In these notes, the importance and usefulness of the RCP is
reiterated. Usually (but not always) this will get the holdouts to at least
access the RCP file. This approach to reading the RCP is consistent with a proactive,
independent learning atmosphere (if instructors wish to create such an
atmosphere in their courses).
Another possibility is to email the RCP to students, either as part of
the welcome letter or as a separate note. This might increase the chances that
students will read it. Again, this approach might not be advisable if instructors
want to encourage and ensure that their students know how to navigate WebCT and
understand the particular organization and structure of a course. Thus, they
have to seek out the RCP in order to read it. One might also use the discussion
board to present an RCP and have students comment on and ask questions about
it.
In some ways, the major choices faced by online instructors when
considering the use of RCPs are similar to those faced by companies initiating
realistic job previews (Wanous, 1989). Instructors might initiate an RCP either
reactively or proactively. If students are unhappy with the course or are
dropping out in large numbers, an RCP could be used to create accurate
expectations for potential or incoming students. Of course, the success of an
RCP in this case depends on why students are unhappy. If they have been
unpleasantly surprised by certain aspects of the course (that the instructor
wants to keep the same), an RCP can be used to clarify future students’
expectations. If the course is poorly designed or the instructor is unfair or
unreasonable, an RCP probably would not be very useful. Instructors of such
courses would likely be resistant to using an RCP that has too much negative
information. After all, too many students would drop out of the course after
reading the RCP. As Wanous (1989) noted with realistic job previews, a moderate
amount of negative information should encourage a moderate degree of
self-selection.
Instructors might prefer a more proactive approach with their RCPs, if they
are mainly interested in assuring accurate expectations for incoming students
(i.e., letting them know what it will really
be like taking this course). Other tools can be used (such as detailed
end-of-term course evaluations) to identify and correct design or instructor
problems. Thus, RCPs take more of a "this is what it's like to take this
course" orientation than a "this is what's wrong with this
course" or "this is why no one should take this course"
orientations.
What about using audio or video clips for student RCP statements as
opposed to static files embedded in the "How this Course Works"
section of the course? RCPs would be more personal and probably more believable
and effective if “real people” are describing the positives and negatives of
the course (Wanous, 1989). The downside to using such clips is that they are
more difficult to obtain, edit, and change. In addition, students would probably
be less honest and open if they provided information in the more-identifiable
audio or video context. On the other hand, it may be easier to communicate
strong positive or negative feelings in an audio or visual clip than in
writing.
Should the content of the RCP be descriptive or judgmental? On the one
hand, an RCP could include syllabus materials, course content overviews,
testing and grading information, and so on. On the other hand, identifying the
positive and negatives of the course will probably do more to increase
retention, prevent unpleasant surprises, create rapport, and help students to
cope with the course demands (although there is little research bearing on
these possibilities). In most cases, the descriptive material is available
elsewhere, whereas the RCP provides students with what previous students liked
and did not like about the structure and organization of the course and
instructor.
Is an equal number of positive and negative comments representative of
students’ true feelings? An argument could be made that by soliciting only one
positive and one negative comment about taking the course, the instructors are being
unnecessarily restrictive or directive. However, there is not any evidence that
this is the case. It is usually very clear which students had mainly positive
or negative experiences with the course. As the earlier representative RCP
responses show, students tend to provide a narrative of their experiences and
often their responses have more than one positive or negative. With 30-40
different student responses, the RCP provides certain themes (by virtue of
their frequency of mention) that are repeatedly stressed to the reader.
Inevitably, these recurring themes are exactly what the instructors want their incoming
students to know about and understand.
What if an instructor is teaching a very large online course and receives
RCP responses from, for example, 100 students? Including all those responses
would make the RCP unwieldy. In such cases, instructors should randomly sample
responses to generate a more-optimal set of 20-30 responses. By including
students who did very well as well as those who did very poorly in the course,
random selection of the responses will minimize bias in the RCP and ensure that
it is as accurate as possible.
An alternative approach one might take for online RCP content is to
solicit specific information from the best students in the course. For example,
Quddus and Bussing-Burks (1998) describe contacting successful veteran students
in a traditional economics course and having them complete a survey on the most
important study advice they would
give to future students. Veteran students describe their general strategies and
specific methods for class and exam preparation, and the authors provide new
students with a summary of these study tips. Although this approach represents
the experiences of a minority of veteran students who may have certain biases
that do not apply to the majority of the students, this is an option if one is
teaching large sections of a course and wants to use RCPs. Providing study tips
information is not technically an RCP by the definition in this paper, and it
would not be necessary to give this kind of information at the start of a course.
However, it is certainly recommended that online instructors combine an RCP
with study, exam preparation, reading guidelines, or other kinds of veteran
tips.
A final issue to note is that RCPs may not be entirely accurate when changes
are made to the course in response to veterans' comments (or course
evaluations). This is usually not a major problem because the overall themes
are still accurate, even if some of the details are not. For example, in
response to frequent complaints about difficult exams, one’s testing procedure
can be revised. The exams may still be difficult, and students' comments on
that difficulty in their RCPs still accurate; however, the incoming students should
find their exams somewhat less difficult and more manageable than the veterans.
Of course, the RCPs generated by the students who experienced the revised exams
reflected the new testing parameters. At worst, major changes in course
structure or instructor style will take one additional semester to make it into
the RCP.
In summary, the RCP concept can be a valuable addition to online (and
traditional) pedagogy. It is simple in design and easy to implement. It
provides instructors with a powerful tool for helping ensure that student
expectations for a course are accurate. It gives online instructors the ability
to improve their first day of class introductions. It increases the chances of
a good match between what students want from the course and what they will
likely get from it. And it gives veteran students an opportunity for course
closure by allowing them to pass on their accumulated wisdom about the course
and instructor to new students.
Endnote
[1] I wish to thank Elaine Adams, Linda Galbato, and Skip Kendrick for
their comments on an earlier version of this paper.
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