Learning Objective #1: Describe student outcomes that were instrumental in modifying courses offered online

Learning Objective #2: Compare characteristics of classroom learning in a traditional education model to classroom learning using a blended learning approach

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This presentation describes how one graduate program which has offered all its core courses online for the past three years used outcome data to modify its online course offerings; this modification led to a “blended” approach in which on-campus activities are again extensively included in the courses. Faculty initially identified characteristics of the faculty, students, setting, and courses that would improve the probability of success for both students and faculty. A substantial amount of time was devoted to preparation of both the course materials and the evaluation tools we would use to evaluate our experiences. This thorough evaluation approach included evaluation of each course and also an evaluation of the total experience at the end of the three years. To assure that all views were included, all students who registered for an online course were surveyed whether or not they actually completed the course. A description of the online courses, including format, will be given. Verbal comments from faculty and students will be briefly discussed along with the formal outcome data that was collected. Conclusions from the evaluation data will be presented and discussed regarding how they were used to modify course structure leading faculty back into the classroom. The approaches to offering an online course while providing the support and guidance valued by students in optimizing their experiences are described. Finally, a comparison will be made of the classroom setting in a traditional model of education and in a “blended” learning approach. The differences between these will be stressed since although faculty and students have found themselves “back” in the classroom, what occurs there now is very different from the traditional model. As the term implies, “blended” learning combines the best of both online and on-campus education and this paper describes how one graduate program arrived at this approach.