MEDT 7472 Online course review instrument

Adapted from University of West Georgia 5-Star Online Course Review and National Standards for Quality Online
Course :
Grade Level:
Teacher(s) of Course:
Date of Review:
Reviewer:

Calculus One
Not specified but most likely 9th-College
Dr. Jim Fowler
6/21/2016
Amber Gunnin

Rating Scale
0 Absent - component is missing
1 Unsatisfactory - needs significant improvement
2 Somewhat satisfactory - needs targeted improvements
3 Satisfactory - discretionary improvement needed
4 Very Satisfactory - no improvement needed
Standard A: Introduction and Information

A1

A2
A3

The goals and objectives clearly state what the participants will know or be
able to do at the end of the course. The goals and objectives are
measurable in multiple ways, and are aligned to National/State standards
The course content and assignments are of sufficient rigor, depth and
breadth to teach the standards being addressed.
Students are encouraged to introduce themselves to the class

Score

4
4

A4

The course syllabus is easily located, and provides complete and clear
information pertaining to ALL of the following: course objectives, grading,
instructor contact information, required materials, the nature of distance
learning, and honesty policies ensuring the integrity of student work.

A5

Course requirements are consistent with course goals, are representative of

the scope of the course and are clearly stated.

A6

Information is provided to students, parents and mentors on how to

communicate with the online instructor and course provider.

Comments
page. The page just breaks the content down by each week
and shows what will be accomplished each week, but there
are no goals and objectives clearly stated.
The practice quizzes are very rigorous just like most college
math courses. The videos explaining the material are
understandable and there are practice quizzes just like we
In the Week 1 assignment, it is highly encouraged to get to
know other classmates.
The course syllabus is just a class outline for this course. It
is not very informative when it comes to the objectives,
instructor contact information or materials available.
The course requirements are clearly explained during the
Week 1 assignments of the course. Also, when you click on
each week, you can see what requirements are to complete
It is explained in Week 1 how to go to the Discussions page
to ask questions about each week and where to find the
mentors of the course.

A7

Minimum technology requirements and prerequisite technology skills are

clearly stated.

A8

Expectations for academic integrity, use of copyrighted materials, plagiarism

and netiquette (Internet etiquette) regarding lesson activities, discussions,
and e-mail communications are clearly stated.

A9

The instructor provides a biography/photograph, a welcome message, and

an appropriate self-introduction which presents the instructor as
approachable and engaged.

A10

Privacy policies are clearly stated.

The course does not mention about the technology

requirements or prerequisites for technology skills

There is no mention of expectations for academic integrity.

He never truly introduces himself, but he appears very

engaging in his videos.
The privacy policy is not on the course home page, but it is
found on the bottom of the homepage of the company name

Content Notes
I believe this standard needs some improvements when it comes to the syllabus, the goals and objectives, the technology requirements and expectations for
academic integrity. All of this information could easily be put into a syllabus on the course home page. Also, the professor could do a simple welcome video on
the course home page about himself. This course is available to anyone that lives anywhere around the world so it is understandable why there are teacher
mentors instead of the professor being available for questions.

Standard B: Instructional Design

Course design reflects a clear understanding of all students needs and
B1
incorporates varied ways to learn and master the curriculum.

B2

The course is organized by units and lessons that fall into a logical
sequence. Each unit and lesson includes an overview describing objectives,
activities, assignments, assessments, and resources to provide multiple
learning opportunities for students to master the content.

Score
3

B3

The course instruction includes activities that engage students in active

learning.

B4

The course and course instructor provide students with multiple learning
paths, based on student needs that engage students in a variety of ways.

B5

The course provides opportunities for students to engage in higher-order

thinking, critical reasoning activities and thinking in increasingly complex
ways.

Comments
Each week is broken down for students into substandards
with mini practice quizzes over each substandard. There a
videos for the substandards followed by the practice quiz,

The content goes in order of needed material because each

unit builds on the next. Each unit has the sub-units that
break down the material so it is not overwhelming.
The only engagement for students is the practice quizzes
and the quizzes. Besides those assignments, you are
simply watching videos to learn the material.
There are not multiple ways of learning the material just
strictly the videos, but you can to go in any order that you
choose to learn.
This is a difficult course learning Calculus so it requires
higher-order thinking and thinking in complex ways.

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

B11

Readability levels, written language assignments and mathematical

requirements are appropriate for the course content and grade-level
expectations.
The course design provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student
interaction, including opportunities for timely and frequent feedback about
student progress.
The course design includes explicit communication/activities (both before
and during the first week of the course) that confirms whether students are
engaged and are progressing through the course. The instructor will follow
program guidelines to address non-responsive students.
The course provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student and
student-student interaction to foster mastery and application of the material.

Each activity and assignment is well-written, providing students with a clear

understanding of what is expected and how they should submit their work.

Students have access to resources that enrich the course content.

The content is appropriate for a Calculus one class.

There is no contact information directly to Dr. Fowler, but
the discussion forums allows you to conversate with other
classmates or teacher mentors, who can help with
questions.

It is not a requirement to conversate in the discussion

forum. This forum is simply for questions and understanding
topics with classmates or mentors.

Once again, it is not instructor-student, but mentor-student

or student-student interaction.

It is explained in the Assignments section of the

requirements to pass the quizzes to pass the course.
There is an online book that goes along with the course
where I found the link through the discussion forum.

Instructional Design Notes

As far as the instructional design goes for this course, there really is few options of learning the material. There are the videos with the practice quizzes and also,
you can download the online textbook for an outside resource. The videos could provide activities to engage in active learning if they had practice problems
within the video. For example, if they provided a practice problem and then said to pause the video and try it for yourself. Then explain how the practice problem
is solved after you press play again. As far as the course having multiple learning paths, this course is already completely set up. I do not think the course needs
anymore paths for learning calculus. You can view the videos in any order you like and you can complete the practice quizzes, if you want. Also, you have an
online textbook as an outside resource. I also do no think the course needs discussion activities for students. The discussion forum is just for questions to other
Standard C: Student Assessment
Student evaluation strategies are consistent with course goals and
objectives, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly
C1
stated.
C2

The course structure includes adequate and appropriate methods and

procedures to assess students mastery of content.

Score

Comments

The unit quizzes are how you pass the course and this is
explained on the Assignments page of the course.

The questions on the quizzes are some multiple choice and

some open-ended where you have to type in your answer.

There are mini practice quizzes for each sub-unit that you
can try again if you make mistakes. It also explains the
problem if you get it wrong. Along with the main quizzes for

C3

Ongoing, varied, and frequent assessments are conducted throughout the

course to inform instruction.

C4

Assessment strategies and tools make the student continuously aware of his
/ her progress in class and mastery of the content.

C5

Assessment materials provide the instructor with the flexibility to assess

students in a variety of ways.

There is only one way to be graded for each quiz because

they are graded automatically.

They are clearly stated in the Assignments page.

C6

The grading policy and practices are clear and easy to understand.

The quizzes are automatically graded.

Student Assessment Notes

I do not believe the instructor needs to change his grading to provide flexibility for assessing students. Calculus, or any math course, is going to have concrete
problems so there are not options to answering a question. It is either right or wrong.

Standard D: Technology
Clear and consistent navigation is present throughout the course.
D1
D2
D3

The course is complete (does not have any section under construction).
All external links are functional

Score

Comments

The course is very easy to navigate through.

The entire course is available as soon as you sign up.

Every
hastextbook
worked.but I did not find this on the
There external
is a free link
online
website. I found it through the discussion forum where
someone asked about a textbook.

D4

Supplementary resources and links are available to students and are labeled
as required or optional.

D5

Rich media are provided in multiple formats for ease of use and access in
order to address diverse student needs.

Under the videos, there is a tab allowing you to change the

script to either Chinese, English or Spanish.

The only true software used is through the videos.

D6

The course uses content-specific tools and software appropriately.

Technology Notes
For the supplementary resources, it would be a great idea for the instructor to include that in the syllabus. The resources is available, but you have to go to the
discussion forum to ask if there is a textbook before you are given the link. Other than the link to the textbook, the course is easy to navigate and all external
links work. As far as technology goes, this course does a great job.

Assignment requirements (to be filled by Professor only) NOT APPLICABLE TO

PROJECT 1 ANALYSIS OF ONLINE COURSE

Score

Comments

A syllabus that tells the students the objectives of the lesson and provides
detailed and clear instructions on how to complete the weeks activities and
explains how the learners will be evaluated. It also must include instructors
contact information and office hours
The course is complete
At least two well-thought-out discussion topics pertaining to the lesson
Some type of pedagogically-sound project the student must complete
pertaining to the lesson.
Some form of advanced technology on display. This might include a narrated
PowerPoint lecture, podcast, video or movie cast, interactive tutorial, etc.

Some form of assessment (quiz, rubric, checklist, etc).

The integration of the interactive tool (blog, wiki or digital storytelling) you
chose in the Tools for online engagement and communication discussion,
with instructions on how to access and the activities your students will
develop.

Total points

97 of 132

Overall feedback
Overall, the course does exactly what is intended. To teach you or allow you to review topics in Calculus One. The target audience is for anyone who has never
see calculus or those who would like to review calculus topics. The course is broken down into 16 weeks where 15 of those weeks are actual learning calculus.
Each week is broken down into sub-units where you have a practice quiz for each. At the end of the week, there is a unit quiz that is graded and determines
whether you pass. You must pass the 15 main quizzes to pass the course. As far as weaknesses for the course, the main thing that needs to be re-evaluated is
having more information available on the syllabus. The syllabus right now just outlines the course by stating what topics are covered each week. It really needs
to add the course objectives and goals, the link to the online textbook, technology requirements and expectations for academic integrity. The strengths of this
course are the videos. The professor is very engaging and makes the material easy to understand. Also, the practice quizzes are very challenging. I also like that
this is a course you can either follow the weekly schedule given or you can turn off the deadlines and make it a self-paced course.