august 10, 2004 jsm, toronto 1 distance learning – a case for introductory statistics at central...

August 10, 2004 JSM, Toronto 1

Distance Learning – A Case for Introductory Statistics at Central

Michigan University

Carl LeeDepartment of MathematicsCentral Michigan UniversityE-mail: [email protected]

August 10, 2004 JSM, TorontoAugust 10, 2004 JSM, Toronto 22

OutlineOutline Distance Education at CMU Online Introductory Statistics Nine Measures of Quality in e-Learning Evaluating the CMU Model using the Nine

Measures Unique Features of Online Statistics Courses Suggestions for First Time Online Teachers

Google Search on “Distance Learning”, “Distance Education”, or e-Learning:

13,520,000 sites


Distance Education at CMUDistance Education at CMU Milestone and Development

• 1971: The School of Continuing Education and Community Services was developed to administer all off-campus related programs.

Specific programs (non-degree) were developed for various military base and federal agencies and for American Heart Association, and so on.

Centers were developed throughout out the nation. • 1982: Expanded and name changed to School of Extended Learning

Continue to build learning centers and expanded to Canada and Mexico. Main program: Master in Science & Administration (MSA)

Main delivery method: Learning packages and Classroom lectures at learning centers.

# of students reached 5000 enrolled by year 1989.• 1989- Reorganized to College of Extended Learning

Continue to expand the programs including both Masters and undergraduate programs. New course and curriculum had to be approved by the Academic Senate.

Delivery methods to include web courses and Distance Learning Classroom through TV.

# of students enrolled reached 10000 by year 2000.


Distance Education at CMUDistance Education at CMU2004:

Transformed the college into Professional Education Services. (ProfEds)

Distance Education group is no longer a stand-alone college. In stead, it is now a service unit that works with each college to provide distance education that synchronizes on-campus and off-campus curricula.

Programs available:Two DA’s in Audiology and Health Administration10 Master programs, 12 Graduate certificate

programs, 6 undergraduate programs.

Main delivery methods are web and learning packages.


Web CoursesWeb CoursesWeb courses are treated the same as on-campus courses,

so there are no special limitations toward student’s program or transferring the courses.

Delivery System: Blackboard

Interaction and Communication: Through e-mails, discussion forum, charting room, and telephone.

Assessment: Proctored online exams or Proctored exams at a designated location.

Advantages: Students can study at their own pace, their own schedule and at any location where internet is accessible.

Disadvantages: No face-to-face interaction, difficult to manage consistent progress among the entire class. Difficult to conduct group activities.


Learning PackagesLearning Packages Learning packages are print-based

courses. They are still quite popular.

• Advantages: No technology required (Critical for students who do not have Internet connection). Students can study at their own pace, their own schedule and at any location.

• Disadvantages: Very little interaction with instructors. Communication can be done only through telephone or e-mail for those who have e-mail access.


Classroom Courses at Learning CentersClassroom Courses at Learning Centers Classroom courses are available in over 60 off-

campus locations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Classroom-based courses are offered year-round in a compressed format with shorter terms (Most are 3 to 6 weekends).• Advantages: It is a face-to-face classroom lecture format.

Students do not need to go to the main campus and still receive similar on-campus education.

• Disadvantages: Courses that students desire may not be able to offer at a specific center. The contacting hours are the same as a regular semester, however, they are compressed into 3 to 6 weekends. It is not easy to digest the material, especially for quantitative subjects, in such a short time period.


Faculty SupportFaculty Support Faculty Resource Center:

• Workshops on using technology• Faculty Expectation and assessment• Community Network • Best Practices of Distance Education• Curriculum Development and Teaching

Resources• References on Distance Education


Student ServicesStudent Services Before Taking any Course: Lesson Zero Course –

for students to get acquainted with the online learning and strategies on how to succeed when taking an online course, such as time management, tools for online communication, navigating the net, and so on.

After Registration: material purchasing, online library, online advising, scheduling exams, online resources, and so on.

After completion: Final grades, incompletes, online student evaluation.


Introductory StatisticsIntroductory Statistics

It is required for Doctor of Arts programs and most of the Master’s programs offered through the Distance Education.

The course is offered in all three different delivery methods (web, learning package and learning center)

The one I have been teaching is the web course.

August 10, 2004 JSM, Toronto 11(From Cause.org by Landers at http://www.causeweb.org/ )


Web Introductory Statistics Web Introductory Statistics The web course was first delivered in 1999. Course Development:

• Use both online material and a textbook• Use learning objective matrix to guide study.• Use online self-assessment for students to

assess their progress.• Use proctored exams for assessing their learning

outcomes. Delivery system:

• was first developed in hmtl. • Currently, it is delivered through Blackboard

course management system.


Course Information for StudentsCourse Information for Students

General Support from the Distance Edu Group Course Technical Support

• Contact the DDL Helpdesk • Virtual Classroom/Lightweight Chat Troubleshooting

Ordering Texts and Print Materials Examination Proctor Information Off Campus Library Services Information General University Grading Policies End of Course Survey


Course Content and OrganizationCourse Content and Organization Organized in units – a total of 8 units. Covers typical

topics for an intro stat course. Study materials: Include online reading and a textbook. Progress assessment: Homework in textbook and self-

assessment online. Exams: An exam is required for every two units. A total of

four exams. Learning Objective Matrix: The concepts, topics and

self-assessment are connected by the Learning Objective Matrix.

Interaction and Communication: e-mail and discussion forum.

Chatting room and virtual classroom are available. I have not been able to successfully get students together online.


Within Each Unit on BlackboardWithin Each Unit on Blackboard Textbook: Read Chapter 4.1-4.5 Unit 4 Introduction

unit4intro_rev.rtf ( 8424 Bytes ) Unit 4 Online Readings

unit4onlinereadings_rev.rtf ( 886217 Bytes ) Unit 4 Objectives

unit4objec_rev.rtf ( 6110 Bytes ) Unit 4 Study Guide

unit4studyguide_rev.rtf ( 29304 Bytes ) Unit 4 Practice Quiz

Click here for Online Practice Quiz Exam #2

Please call your proctor to schedule your second exam. The test will cover the following: • Online Units : 3 and 4 • Textbook Chapters: 3 and 4.1 to 4.5


Learning Objective MatrixLearning Objective MatrixStudy Directory for Unit 2, (covering Chapter 2 of the textbook). You may

use the information on this page to guide you through your studies.

Please begin by reading the Unit 2 Introduction and Unit 2 Objectives.

Objectives Related Concepts Readings Examples Exercises Test Items

1 Bar Graph, Pie Chart

p. 20-24 2.1 2.3, 2.7, 2.13 9-10

2 Dot Plot, Stem-leaf Plot Histogram

p. 29-36 2.2 2.16,2.17, 2.19, 2.20, 2.23,2.26, 2.29

1-8, 11-12

3 Notation p. 42-43 2.33, 2.35 16, 25, 27

4 Mean, Median, Mode, Symmetric, Skewed

p. 44-50 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7

2.37, 2.39, 2.41, 2.43, 2.47, 2.49

1, 8, 11-14, 18, 22-24, 28

5 Variability, Range, Variance, Standard Deviation

p. 55-59 2.8, 2.9 2.55, 2.57, 2.59, 2.61 3, 15, 16, 20, 21, 25-27, 28

6 Empirical Rule, Standard Deviation

p. 61-66 2.10, 2.11, 2.12

2.69, 2.71, 2.75b, 2.80

29-32

7 Relative Standing, Percentile p. 70-71 2.83, 2.87 6, 17, 19

8 Z-score, Standardization p. 71-73 2.13, 2.14 2.82, 2.91, 2.93a,b 33-36


Benchmarks for Success in Internet-based Distance Education

Benchmarks for Success in Internet-based Distance Education (March, 2000) A publication by the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

Jia Frydenberg (2002). Quality Standards in e-Learning: A Matrix of Analysis. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning

1. Executive commitment2. Technological infrastructure3. Student services4. Design and development5. Instruction and instructor services6. Program delivery7. Financial health8. Legal and regulatory requirements9. Program evaluation


1. Executive commitmentDistance education program can not be done by an individual faculty or a department. It must have a long term commitment from the higher administration with clear strategic plan and identified market segments.

2. Centralized Technological infrastructure that is capable of providing

• technical solutions required to track student-learning performance.• friendly online environment for interactions and communication

between students and instructors and among students to build a sense of community.

• user-friendly tools to enable instructional developers to create excellent learning materials and intellectual meeting spaces easily and quickly.

3. Student services• Being able to provide and maintain a high quality programs is the key

for a long term success of the distance education.• Provides additional advising on the use of technology and strategies

of how to be successful as a e-learner such as time management, use of technology, online communication skills, etc.

• Provides on time online tutoring services.


4. Instructional Design and development• Clear guideline on the standards and expectation.• Clear guideline of learning objectives, learning outcomes. Materials

should then be developed to lead student learning to achieve the expected outcomes.

• Materials require students to engage themselves in higher order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

• Review the material periodically to ensure they meet the program standards.

• Clearly laid-out assessment plan for assessing student learning outcomes.

5. Instruction and instructor services (Faculty Support)• Technical assistance in course development should be available.• Instructors’ training and supporting network on the use of technology

and through the progression of online course.• Guidelines on dealing issues arising from students using online

technology and related.

6. Program delivery• Provides different delivery systems for different students.• Provides supplementary material including library services in addition

to online materials.• Clearly define and re-enforce the time frame for students to follow in

order to complete the course work on time.


7. Financial health• A healthy financial plan for a distance learning program is

critical. It also ensures the commitment of the higher administration. The finance can not be totally rely on the tuition as it starts.

8. Legal and regulatory requirements• The rapid change of technology has significant impact on the issue of

copyright. A distance Education Unit needs to properly take care of the legal and regulatory requirements.

9. Student Outcomes Assessment and Program evaluation• Most frequent criticism of distance education is the problem of

assuring adequate student learning outcomes. A multiple assessment tools should be implemented to assess student learning outcomes.

• The success of a program should be measured also using multiple measurements to evaluate if the program achieves the goals, which include both student learning, student enrollment and financial health.


The CMU ModelThe CMU Model1. Executive commitment

With 25 years of distance education programs – Commitment is very high

2. Technological infrastructure

With 25 years of experience and upgrade of technology. The infrastructure is outstanding

3. Student services Having a variety of student services personnel to provide student services. The commitment is very high. How well is it. I do not know.

4. Design and development

Attempts to adopt technology for instructional development. However, little has been done other than dumping the material to Blackboard. Can be improved greatly.

5. Instruction and instructor services

There have been workshops and networking opportunities for instructors. The participation has been very minimum. Part of reason is that most of online instructors also teach on campus. The online course becomes secondary.

6. Program delivery The delivery methods are adequate for some disciplines, but not adequate for quantitative courses such as statistics.

7. Financial health It has been financially healthy. However, the competition is high. Changes will be needed in order to maintain the leading position.

8. Legal and regulatory requirements

Any material developed for the CMU’s distance education program, CMU required the transfer of the copyright.

9. Program evaluation Student learning outcomes assessment has been course and instructor’s own design. There is not a common standard across the same course.


Some Unique Problems Faced in the Online Some Unique Problems Faced in the Online

Intro Stat CourseIntro Stat Course The Blackboard course management system still very weak in

dealing with symbols, which is critical for statistics.

Blackboard system can not handle html inside the system. As a result, any links developed in html will be lost when html document is imported into the Blackboard system. This is a serious drawback for introducing statistical concepts which cut across different chapters. An ideal situation would be to allow all related materials for the same or similar concepts to be linked, so that one can learn the concept in descriptive summary, in distribution and in inference and applications.

For example, when discussing confidence interval, the related concepts such as mean, standard deviation, standard error, normal distribution and applications of confidence intervals should be linked whenever students need them.


Online assessment is difficult to develop due to the same reason that Blackboard can not handle symbols nor tables properly.

Online survey is also very weak for the Blackboard system. It does not allow users to keep the raw survey data. As a result, one can not conduct a pre/post comparison of the survey data.

Group projects are almost impossible due to the fact that students are in remote locations, it is physically difficult to conduct group projects.

Time management is especially difficult for most students. This is due part to the nature that people tend to push it to the last minute, but also due to the anxiety of statistics. The longer a students put it away, the more anxiety the student will feel. The consequence is a large percent of students request for incomplete.

Incomplete policy is easier for the online courses due to the consideration that online students are mostly working full time, having kids, may have to deal with disruptions more often than on-campus students, and other social/economic factors.


Some Unexpected DifficultiesSome Unexpected Difficulties Online charting has never been successful.

Students are located in different time zones and work in different schedules.

Discussion forum are not used as frequently as I expected. Most students still like to contact with the instructor by e-mail or by phone. There is very little interaction among students.

Requests for incompletes often do not follow the guideline, which it is to successfully complete 50% or more. Some students did not even try, but still ask for incomplete!

Some students take the advantage of incomplete policy by purposely completing 50% of the work and ask for incomplete.


Some Suggestions for First Time Online Instructors

Participate in the training workshops your institution provides related to how to conduct an online teaching and the use of technology.

Give students access of the web site a few days ahead with welcoming message along with the messages that you want students to know before the term starts:• The grading policy, syllabus, the list of persons and e-

mails to whom students may need to contact during the term, navigating the web site to get familiar with the system, and so on.

A short and warm introduction of yourself and invite them to introduce themselves using discussion forum, if possible.


Always remind students the information they need to know during the term, especially, the schedule, topics, related homework and self-assessment material for each exam.

Keep track of the progress of each student by sending personal e-mail message to encourage each one to arrange time for their study.

Respond any e-mail within 24 hours period. If you can not do that because you are out of town, inform them ahead.

Feedback to students their performance as soon as possible with some personal message as an encouragement.

august 10, 2004 jsm, toronto 1 distance learning – a case for introductory statistics at central...

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