Online Course Activities: A Case Study of Assignments and Assessment Types

Introduction

Since the advent of the internet, courses offered in distance learning formats exponentially increased in popularity. The Department of Education formally defined distance education as the education delivered when the instructor is not in the same location as the student. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous and communication is through a variety of video, audio, or computer technologies (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Currently, over 15 million students are enrolled in distance education courses (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Because of the popularity of distance learning courses, even traditional, brick and mortar institutions now provide students the option of enrolling in online courses at an increasing rate.

Effective learning activities are critical for relevant, scholarly knowledge acquisition. Online instructors are challenged to implement meaningful course activities to help students acquire new skills and demonstrate mastery of course content. Many instructors have flexibility in creating unique course activities for each course, while others adopt a generic syllabus with prescribed activities students must complete to successfully pass the class.

For this case study, the researchers surveyed students and instructors about diverse course activities, assessments, and assignments required in the online classroom. In addition, data were gathered regarding the level of study, Learning Management Systems used, and field of study. A case study approach was chosen for this research because “case study research excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex issue or object and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research” (Soy, 2012). Yin (2008) identified case study research methods as empirical inquiries that allow researchers to investigate contemporary phenomena within real-life contexts, even when multiple evidence sources are utilized. This methodology was selected so that the researchers could complete a detailed contextual analysis (Wiersma & Jurs, 2008) of a selected number of data points to compare the diverse activities required in online courses. Data were tabulated to indicate the different learning management systems (LMS) utilized by survey participants, the format in which courses were offered, semester length, as well as the indicated frequency and enjoyment level of assigned activities for instructors and students.