OnlineHE_Toolkit

26 The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project Number: 2020-1-RO01-KA226-HE-095434 g. Providing feedback: this should be done in a timely manner, and should vary, from being remedial to being informative or analytical. h. Assess performance : we need to include various types of assessment while ensuring that all questions cover the objectives set. i. Enhancing retention and learning transfer: we can ask students to map the content learned to their real-life situations and activities, providing opportunities for them to use the new skills/knowledge. For instance, they can respond to “what-if- scenarios”. Step 8: Design and conduct the formative evaluation of instruction We have to evaluate the course design while it is still being drafted (e.g., have external evaluators/colleagues/students evaluate the prototype/draft) as well as while the course is running. The former type is important for the design process so that revisions are prompted. The latter indicates the collection of data through various mediums, such as discussions with students (either individually or in small groups), learning analytics, which provide the instructor/designer with information for improvement of the instruction. Step 9: Design and conduct summative evaluation This type of evaluation is conducted after the course and instruction is completed and it is not conducted during the process of designing the instruction. Summative evaluation can have a format similar to the formative one, including external or internal evaluators through surveys, interviews, discussions, and learning analytics. A good practice suggested in the literature is to measure students’ satisfaction about an online course (Al-Fraihat, Joy, & Sinclair, 2018; Hadullo, Oboko, & Omwenga, 2017). The instructors/designers can also engage with a reflective practice t o spot the challenges/obstacles they had to face and find solutions for the redesign/restructuring of the course. The nine steps, presented so far, are part of designing the learning experience. The Dick and Carey model includes a tenth step which is applied after the delivery of the instruction. Step 10: Revise instruction We can synthesise the data collected through formative and summative evaluation and present them in practical terms, to expose any difficulties, obstacles, and recommendations. This way, we can evaluate whether all the steps taken were effective and examine ways of improving them. We can, then, modify the practices followed, specifically the instructional strategy to make it a more effective tool.