Introduction
In fall of 2002, over 1.6 million students took
online courses at degree granting institutions. As
of fall of 2005, that number had doubled (Allen &
Seaman, 2006). The rapid growth of online education
as a distance learning option has caused
unprecedented growth in credit hours in teacher
education institutions (Allen & Seaman, 2006).
Whether the popularity of online delivery for
teacher education is driven by effectiveness of the
delivery method, the ability to train more teachers,
or the increased revenue experienced by colleges of
education is not yet clear. Perhaps there are
elements of all three forces. What is clear is that
faculty must transform their teaching styles in
order to provide effective online pedagogy.
Re-training faculty to provide effective online
instruction has become no less than a national
priority, but without an established body of
research on effective online practices, there are no
guiding principles for best practices in course
design (Maddox, 2004; NEA, 2000; Spellings & Stroup,
2005; Lee & Busch, 2005). Out of necessity and the
increase in online credit hours, faculty continue to
be called upon to teach online courses with little
or no training in online delivery methods.
As of 2003, 17 commercial companies that “teach
online to teach online” had already been established
(Carnevale, 2003). A number of recent publications
have begun to explore the possibilities for
in-service faculty training, and a few universities
have even developed graduate certificates in online
teaching. The majority of university based training
for faculty is perfunctory, based on the basic
equipment and course management systems rather than
on pedagogical effectiveness (Wilson, 2004).
One of the challenges of teaching an online course
is the development and inclusion of materials that
teach the concepts in a meaningful manner. At the
graduate level, it is especially important for
faculty to be able to teach students how to apply,
synthesize and evaluate concepts. While rigor of
content is essential, development of an environment
that meets the learning needs and communication
preferences of students must be considered. This
study examined a method for making courses more
meaningful for graduate level teacher education
students, by offering choices about how to access
information, interact with activities and materials,
and how to report back what they had learned. To do
so, this study implemented an experimental
application of universal design for learning (UDL)
to an online graduate course.
Applications of universal design in architecture,
electronics and civil engineering have had great
success in making the world more accessible to all
users. Most recently, it has been used extensively
to make the world-wide-web accessible to all users
(Roberts, 2004; Burgstahler, 2002; IBM, 2005;
Pearson & Koppi, 2003). While universal design has
been successful in making online courses more
accessible in the realms of physical and sensory
needs, the design method doesn’t fully address the
need for varied learning needs. This is especially
interesting given that nationally, students with
learning disabilities – not those with sensory or
physical disabilities – are the most rapidly growing
group of university students with disabilities
(National Center on Educational Statistics, 2005).
Universal design for learning (UDL) has been
promoted over the past decade as a way to make
learning accessible to more users, based on an array
of choices made by the learner (Hall, Strangman &
Meyer, 2005). Widely recommended as a tool for
differentiation of instruction in K-12 classrooms,
only recently have a few studies begun to discuss
its use in postsecondary settings (Field, Sarver, &
Shaw, 2003).
There were several research questions addressed in
this study. First, would students in an online
course in teacher education find a set of learning
activities designed with UDL to be (a) more
flexible, with better opportunities to show their
strengths; (b) a more enjoyable experience, allowing
each student to access information and interact with
it in the way they most preferred, and (c) more of
an opportunity to challenge themselves as
learners? A second research question was whether
participants would report leaving the course with a
deep understanding of the power of UDL, and plans to
take this understanding back to their own
classrooms. Finally, this study posed several
smaller questions to support the findings from the
first 2 questions: (a) How varied are the learning
styles of students participating in online courses
in teacher training? (b) How much do course members
in graduate level teacher training vary in their
personal preferences, as measured by a
Myers-Briggs-like assessment? (c) Do students’
personal preferences affect their activity
preferences in online courses? and (d) What would be
the outcome of providing universal design for
learning (UDL) choices in one of the online
instructional units for a graduate course in
differentiating instruction?
Method
Participants
The sample of participants was drawn from a required
online graduate course in teacher preparation,
“Addressing Differences in Human Learning”. Student
participants from all sections of the course were
solicited each semester, between Summer Session of
2005 (the pilot study) and Fall of 2006. Although
the sample was not randomly selected, it did
represent a wide cross-section of participants in
terms of experience with online instruction,
teaching experience, distance from campus and
teaching discipline. This course was a good source
of participants for the study for several reasons:
First, all students in the College of Education took
this “core” course as a requirement, so students
came from all discipline areas. Second, one of the
goals of the course is to teach graduate students to
use universal design for learning with their
students, and participation in this research gave
them first-hand experience in and a deeper
understanding of UDL. Third, a consistency was
established by using the study only in sections of
this one course. Finally, this sample was
convenient, and easily accessible to the
researchers.
The sample included 216 participants. They varied
widely in their degree of experience with online
learning. When asked how many online courses they
had taken, the range of responses went from 0 to
20. The average number of online courses taken by
the 216 students who responded to this item was 7
courses. The most often reported response (30
students) was 2 courses.
The range of experience with online courses that was
reported is shown in Figure 1. As shown, most
students had taken between 0 and 9 online courses.
This variation may have had an effect on responses.
When participants reported their “favorite” online
activities, those with less experience may not have
been aware of many of the choices, not having
experienced them.
Figure 1. Experience in Number of Online Courses
Taken Across the Sample (n=216).
A wide range of classroom teaching experience was
represented, ranging from 0 to 39 years. The
largest number of participants had no classroom
teaching experience, but the average number in the
sample was 7 years.
Study participants mostly lived near or on campus,
but many lived at quite a disy: Arial">
The representation of age groups taught by
participants is shown in Figure 2. The grou roughly reflect the proportion of the department
sizes on campus.
Figure 2. Age Groups Taught by Participants
Respondents were all fully certified teachers,
working on advanced licensure, or some area of
add-on licensure. Content areas varied widely,
including almost every content area and special
education, as shown in Figure 3. The
overrepresentation of some areas is due to the
‘cohort” model used in some of the College’s
departments (e.g. Health Education and Business
Education). This meant that some semesters, whole
sections of one discipline area would take the
course from which the sample was drawn.
Figure 3. Teaching Disciplines Represented in
Sample (n=216)
Across the life of the study, about 15% of students
reported that they used dial-up internet services,
but by the last administration of the survey, most
students were using some sort of broadband service,
with only 3% using dial-up internet access.
Instruments
The “Online Learning Preferences Survey” (See
Appendix A) was constructed and administered to
participants. This survey instrument was developed
and piloted on a small sample in the 1st summer
session of 2005. Several changes were made to the
original survey, and the current survey was
implemented, beginning the 2nd summer session of
2005. Although minor changes were made in format,
mostly for clarity, after that time, the instrument
remained essentially the same. The parts of the
survey and the rationale for their inclusion are
described below.
Learning Styles
The first part of the survey asked participants to
report their learning styles, as measured on a
simple checklist. For the checklist results,
students were asked to complete the Solomon and
Felder online assessment at
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
(Solomon & Felder, 1999) and report their summarized
results. Participants were asked to report on four
axes of learning styles. They could be at either end
of the axis for each pair, or in the middle, showing
no preference for either end. The four pairs were
(a) reflective vs. active; (b) sensing vs.
intuitive; (c) visual vs. verbal; and (d) sequential
vs. global. This particular checklist was selected
because it has successfully been used in numerous
other studies for a similar purpose, and it is
easily accessible to students, at no cost. This
index was initially developed to measure learning
styles in engineering students, but its use became
almost immediately widespread in other content areas
(Genovese, 2004). Although the validity and
reliability of this learning styles index have more
recently come into question for use in predicting
performance in classrooms, this was not a problem
for the current study, which used it merely to
determine learning preferences.
Personal Preferences
For a deeper understanding of learning style
profiles of the participants, they were asked to
complete the Humanetrics “Jung Typology” test, which
is similar to the Myers-Briggs Temperament
Indicator. Research on personality preferences and
their relationship to educational practices has
waxed and waned since the introduction of the
Myers-Briggs personality types in the 1970’s. In
Schroeder’s (1993) study of over 4,000 freshmen, he
concluded that the “lecture/listen” model was
ineffective with most of the identified personality
types. Due to his finding that over 60% of the
students were “sensing” (rather than “intuitive”),
he concluded that the majority of college freshmen
would perform better given concrete, hands-on
experiences.
Although the application of learning style and
personal preference research to developing
postsecondary content is not new, the interest in
this area has re-awakened with the advent of online
education. A number of researchers have pointed out
that students could improve class performance when
they understood their own learning styles, and most
have concluded that a mixture of many instructional
styles are superior than the use of only 1 or 2
(O'Brien & Brandt, 1997). In his study of learning
styles and how instructors select their
instructional methods, Schroeder (1999) reported
that a common attitude among instructors seemed to
be "My classroom would be a much better place if my
students were more like me!”. Instructors tend to
plan their learning activities according to their
own learning styles, rarely varying it for their
students’ preferences. Another common dilemma is
that when instructors design for any one type of
learning preference, they do not address those of
most of their students (Hall, 2006).
More recently, studies that have examined the
relationships between personality preferences,
learning styles and instructional methods used in
online courses, making recommendations based on
their findings (Irani, Telg, Scherler, & Harrington,
2003; Higgins, 2002; Kim & Schniederjans, 2004;
Jenkins & Downs, 2003). In some cases, there have
been surprising results when applying MBTI types to
internet activity preferences (Desmedt & Valcke,
2006; Amichai-Hamburger, Wainapel, & Fox, 2003,
Bonebrake, 2002; Nussbaum et. al, 2004; Contreras,
2004). Although the reliability and validity of the
MBTI have been questioned since its inception, the
Myers and Briggs Foundation (http://www.myersbriggs.org)
reports that the instrument is still commonly used
in studying learning, career and relationship
preferences (Hunsley & Wood, 2004).
In this study, participants were asked to report
their 4-letter type, after taking the Humanetrics
“Jung Typology” Test. The Humanetrics company
consists of psychologists and mathematicians with 30
years of experience in application and development
of comprehensive tests. While the Humanetrics
version yields a 4-letter type much like the
Myers-Briggs assessment, it is only a facsimile of
that test, provided to the public at no charge. The
results of this assessment can in no way be said to
match those of the more costly
Myers-Briggs-Temperament-Indicator (MBTI). Although
the Humanetrics version of the assessment was used
for reasons of convenience and no cost, this
informal checklist worked well for this study, in
which results were used to compare learning styles
and preference profiles with instructional methods.
Its results also provided students insightful
information about the attitude types (extrovert [E]
vs introvert [N]), and function types (thinking [T]
vs feeling [F]; sensing [S] & intuition [I]; judging
[J] & perceiving [P]), predominant in their
preferred learning experiences.
The UDL Unit
The term “universal design for learning” can be
described as designing not for the “typical
student”, but for every student. There is a wide
variety in the learning needs and preferences of the
university student population, yet we continue to
design our online courses either according to the
course management system available to us, or
according to our own learning styles and preferences
(Rosenfeld & Rosenfeld, 2004).
The Center for Applied Technology has defined
universal design for learning as: “Multiple means of
representation, to give learners various ways of
acquiring information and knowledge; Multiple means
of expression, to provide learners alternatives for
demonstrating what they know; and Multiple means of
engagement, to tap into learners' interests, offer
appropriate challenges, and increase motivation”
(http://www.cast.org/research/index.html). The
idea behind UDL is to provide differentiation and
flexibility before, rather than after course
development. Like universal design in architecture
and telecommunications, using UDL in the development
and delivery of online courses benefits all
students, by allowing them to learn in the ways that
play to their strengths and needs. Additionally,
many users are at a distance from the university
that prevents them from taking courses on campus.
Courses designed with UDL can benefit those who have
slower connection speeds and cannot access video or
other broadband type resources.
The experimental unit in this study provided choices
in the way students received, interacted with, and
expressed information and concepts as part of the
course (see Appendix B). To accomplish this, for
each of the activity competencies, students were
asked to select from several options for completing
them.
The Four Questions
After completion of the experimental unit designed
using UDL principles, participants answered four
questions about it, as follows: (1) Did they feel
like they had been presented with “real” choices?
(2) Would they want to have these sorts of choices
throughout courses? (3) Did they feel that the
choices gave them more of an opportunity to show
their best work? and (4) Did they think that the
choices gave them more opportunity to “challenge
themselves”? Together, these questions directly
addressed one of the four research questions of the
study.
The Online Course Preferences Section
The rest of the survey was based on research
questions regarding online course activity
preferences, and student demographics. For example,
in many of the items, students selected and ranked
their most and least preferred online course
activities. Other items concerned distance from
campus, the content area they taught, and so forth.
A summary of findings from administration of the
survey instrument is shown in the results section,
below.
Results and Discussion
Teacher Education Participants’ Reactions to UDL
Unit
This study was implemented at the same time that
students completed an instructional unit on UDL.
Along with text and supplementary readings it
included learning activities that were designed to
meet different learning preferences/styles
Students were given the opportunity to choose the
activity they wished to complete to attain
competencies. An activity was also included that
questioned students about their reaction to this
experimental unit, and the results of their
responses are organized by question, as follows.
Did You Feel As Though You Had Real Choices In
Learning Methods?
The purpose of this question was to assure that
students perceived the options as having an
acceptable level of variety. Responses were gathered
on these items for 138 of the participants in the
sample. Overall, 133 out of 138 participants did
feel that the choices had very distinct differences.
Would You Prefer Having Every Week’s Work Presented
Like This?
When asked if they would like to see choices
incorporated in each week’s units, 107 out of the
138 (about 78%) indicated that they would like that.
There were many open-ended comments of mostly 2
types: One was the comment that said, “it took me
too long to decide which ones to choose” and the
other was “I had a hard time deciding on the one you
(the instructor) wanted me to choose”. This second
comment was especially interesting since the
majority of group were “SJ” (Sensing/Judging)
learning style types. The literature reports the
tendency of that group to try to do things the way
the instructor wants (or the “right” way) (Golay,
1983). Even when given open-ended opportunities,
they superimposed the notion that there must be a
secret instructor-preferred group of activities for
them to choose.
Did Having A Choice Of Activities Give You More
Confidence About Your Ability To Succeed In The
Course?
Overall, participants reported that having choices
did make them more confident about how they would
perform, because of their opportunity to choose a
method. About 83% reported this. One interesting
response that came up repeatedly in the open-ended
comments was that this method didn’t increase their
confidence because they already felt very confident
in their abilities. Many respondents went on to
explain that they were high achievers, and so on,
and didn’t really need differentiation in order to
perform well.
Did Having A Choice Of Activities Provide You With
More Opportunity To Challenge Yourself?
Out of 138 participants, 113 (82%) reported that the
choices did allow them more opportunities with which
to challenge themselves. They gave reasons like, “I
tried something new”, or “I tried something I never
would have thought of”. Many of the participants who
reported that they had not been more challenged
tended to qualify their answer by saying that “I
just chose the easiest one” or “I could have been
more challenged, but didn’t have time to pursue it”.
It was interesting that “the easiest one” chosen
almost always varied from student to student, based
on their learning preferences.
A Deeper Understanding Of The Power Of UDL
In the open-ended comments requested after the “Four
Questions” and in the Course Evaluations, a majority
of respondents reported that now that they
understood UDL and how it felt to have empowering
choices about their learning, that they would take
this method back to apply in their own classrooms.
These comments, although unsolicited, were numerous.
Student Characteristic Variations
Learning Styles
Participants were asked to report on four axes of
learning styles. They could be at either end of the
axis for each pair, or in the middle, showing no
preference for either end. The four pairs were (a)
reflective vs. active; (b) sensing vs. intuitive;
(c) visual vs. verbal; and (d) sequential vs.
global. The results were as follows.
In the group of 220 teachers who responded to this
section of the survey, most were active, sensing,
visual and sequential learners, as shown below. On
the reflective/active axis, there was an
overwhelming majority of participants who reported
either an active preference, or no preference, as
shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Active/Reflective Learning Styles Axis
On the sensory vs. intuitive learner preference,
most participants reported that they preferred
sensory learning, as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5. The Sensory vs. Intuitive Learning
Preference
On the visual vs. verbal preference index, there was
an overwhelming majority of visual learners, as
shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. The Visual vs. Verbal Learning Axis
Another overwhelming preference (shown in Figure 7)
was the majority who reported preferring sequential
to global learning.
Figure 7. The Sequential vs. Global Preference Axis
Most of these learning preferences are discussed, at
length in their relationship to personality
preferences, below.
Personal Preferences
There were marked distinctions in the categories of
personal preferences reported in this sample. In
this system, there are the following possible
parameters: (a) Extrovert or Introvert (“E” or “I”);
(b) iNtuitive or Sensing (“N” or “S”); (c) Feeling
or Thinking (“F” or “T”); and (d) Perceiving or
Judging (“P” or “J”).
Each letter in the types represents an aspect of
personality preference as shown in the list, above.
A “type” includes one aspect from each pair, so that
there are 16 possible combinations, each of which
has very specific preferences. There were no
participants who reported being in the ENFP, ENTP,
or ISTP categories. The least reported of the 13
remaining categories were ESTP, INFP, INTP and ISFP,
with only 1 person each. Only 2 people reported the
ENTJ preference. Six participants each reported the
EFSP and INTJ categories. Figure 8 demonstrates this
distribution.
Figure 8. Distribution of Personality
Preference Types in Sample (n=213)
Most notable, were the majority of participants who
reported being in the categories of ESFJ, ISFJ, ENFJ,
ISTJ AND INFJ. Over half of the survey respondents
fell into either the ISFJ (25%) or ESFJ (28%)
categories, closely followed by the ENFJ (15%)
group. The first 2 of these groups made up 53% of
respondents. An interesting note is that none of the
groups in this sample larger than 3% reported the
“perceiving” (or “P”) preferences.
The ISFJ and ESFJ preference categories have several
features in common. According to Golay (1983), this
means that they fall into the “SJ”, or
Sensing/Judging Temperaments. In his “learner
portrait” description, he calls this group the
“actual-routine learners” (ARL). Some
characteristics of the “ARL” or “SJ” learner are
listed here: (1) Focus on responsibility, study
habits, teacher approval; (2) learns through
identifying and memorizing facts and procedures,
through repetition and drill; (3) prefers sequenced,
step-by-step presentation of material; (4) sees
“fundamentals” as most important – sees little value
in abstractions and theoretical principles; (5)
prefers consistent, clearly defined procedures,
order and structure; interested in what they and
their classmates are “supposed” to do; (6) when
asked to invent own procedures, or given vague
directions, may become distressed and falter in
their work; (7) very detail-oriented, and interested
in doing things “the right way”; wants to know
teacher preferences and expectations so they can
conform to them exactly; (8) craves membership in
groups, especially if they involve instructor
approval. It is no coincidence that the top
personality preference matches 2 of the top
identified learning styles. Participants who
reported being in the “SJ” category were also those
who reported being active, sensory, and sequential
learners.
Some of the instructional strategies recommended for
this type of student include the following methods:
(a) lecture is effective, but only if carefully
structured, with major points emphasized; (b)
instructor-provided outlines and repetition of
material work well; (c) to benefit from a
discussion, this student prefers to NOT be
spontaneous, but to have information and questions
ahead of time, so that s/he can prepare responses;
(d) likes drill and practice, and searching for
information (if in a very directed way); (e)
structured exercises, with clearly defined
instructor expectations are very effective (Golay,
1983; Myers & Myers, 1993, Keirsey & Bates, 1984;
Morgan, 1997).
Do Their Personality Preferences Affect Preferences
In Online Course Activities?
The responses in this study do indicate that
personality preferences closely match online
activity preferences. For example, the top three
favorite internet course activities were cited by
all of the “SJ” types in the study as follows: (1)
discussion board (47%), (2) small group virtual chat
(28%); and (3) independent reading and responding to
objective questions (23%).
After the “SJ” groups, the largest group of
personality preferences reported were ENFJ and INFJ.
The NF learner is described as searching for
meaningfulness in life. Rather than actions and
information, the “NF” is interested in relationships
and interactions. This learner is more interested in
concepts and abstract meanings, and in the more
global aspect and significance of instructional
content. Recommended instructional strategies for
the “NF” learner include (a) an individualized and
personalized approach; (b) enthusiastic
presentations based on personal illustrations; (c)
small group discussions; and (d) creative learning
projects such as role-playing or dramatizations, or
(e) cooperative projects with peers. Repetition and
drill, and very prescriptive sequential instructions
do not appeal to this type of student (Golay,1983).
Looking back to the study, data did show a
difference in favorite online course activities for
the NF preference group. This was a somewhat smaller
group than the 150 in SJ group. The NFs in the study
included only 50 respondents. Their top 3 preferred
internet course activities were (a) discussion board
(38%); (b) email with the instructor (22%); and the
small group virtual chat (20%) – all three of which
involve relationship-building activities.
Unrepresented types. The 3 personality preference
types not represented in the sample were ENFP, ENTP
and INTP. Although it is tempting to make
generalizations about these types and why they were
not represented, the sample size was not really
large enough to make many such generalizations. An
interesting note is that all three share the
“perceiving” (P) component. In fact, only 10 people
in the entire sample of 216 participants reported
having this component in their personality
preference profile. Given the personality
preferences of the “p” type, it is not surprising to
find such a small number among K-12 teachers. The
“perceiver” tends to be spontaneous rather than
systematic, open-minded and curious rather than
ordered and planned. This type is curious and
adaptable, with a zest for learning, as opposed to
the “J” type, who is more planned, routine, and
decisive.
The learning preferences described above are very
different from one another. While it’s true that you
can’t “please all of the people all of the time”,
there are ways to provide for all types, with
careful planning (Myers & Myers, 1993). One way that
was explored in this study was the application of
universal design for learning to an online course
unit.
Limitations, Conclusions, and Further Questions
The study had several limitations. First, the sample
size was too small to extrapolate too much from the
results, except for the areas that stand out as most
obvious (like having over 85% “SJ” population within
a sample of teachers). This will be addressed as we
continue to add to our database each semester.
Another limitation was that not all data were
available for all variables. The database had some
gaps, where information was not available (thus we
reported on over 213 personality preference
profiles, but only 113 survey respondents reporting
on their favorite activities). While all
participants responded to the questions about the
UDL unit, only some of them opted to complete the
additional survey components. Yet another limitation
was that the instruments themselves were valid
enough for some generalizations about learning
needs, but the “Humanetrics” version of typology is
not as valid or reliable as the actual Myers-Briggs
Temperament Indicator, and our own survey was
home-made, and only used in this particular study.
Several conclusions can, however, be made. First, it
was found that most of the students in this program
are most comfortable with sequential, structured
assignments, with clearly defined expectations.
Second, a substantial percentage of students need to
learn things visually, which is an easy thing to do
in an online course, because of the visual nature of
most learning activities. Third, many of the
students in this program are “NFs”, searching for
the meaning and concepts behind their assignments.
For this reason, instructions need to be sequential
and the “big picture” needs to be explicit to these
learners, with opportunities provided for
relationship building and creativity. Finally, it
was found that most students do prefer a choice in
how to access and then engage in activities, and
that choices can be tailored to different learning
styles.
Recommendations for areas needing further study
based on this research include (a) comparing and
contrasting what graduate faculty in the College of
Education believe about what teacher education
students need online, and what students report; (b)
comparing and contrasting learning styles and
personality preferences of College of Education
faculty developing online graduate level courses
with those of students; (c) asking more specific
preference questions about the UDL unit to reveal
which personality types preferred which types of
activities; (d) examine the relationship between
student preferences and the quality of their
performance when given choices; and (e) ways for
faculty to incorporate UDL into their online courses
and be able to evaluate student work, without
feeling as though they are providing an independent
study course for each student.
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Appendix
A. Survey Instrument
This research is being conducted in order to improve
online teaching practices in universities. This
particular research study measures relationships
between and among the following characteristics in
online student learners:
1. demographic information
2. Meyers –Briggs Personality Test (MBPT)
3. Occupation and years experience
4. Learning style and/or special learning needs
5. Preferred online course activities
Subjects will complete an anonymous (but coded)
survey, a MBPT test (on-line), a learning style
checklist, and a course preference survey.
The information will be combined to assess which
factors are related to preference of various online
course activities. The results will be used to
recommend online course design more suitable to
student populations. No student names will be used
in the study. Participation is voluntary, and
all records will be anonymous and confidential.
Once you agree to participate, you will go through
the pages of this document, filling your name in the
blank below (consent to participate) filling out the
rest of the questions in the document, as
appropriate. When you finish, please return this
entire document (filled out by you) to us at
englemanm@mail.ecu.edu.
YES! I will participate in the research project as
described above.
I understand that I will receive 10 points
extra credit in SPED 6002 for
participation. (Your name in bold print will
indicate your agreement.)
_____________________________________
__________
Name
Date
Check here if you would like a copy of the study
when it is completed ________
If you do not wish to participate, please
fill in the appropriate blank below, and send this
to us (with the rest of the document blank) at xxxxx@xxxx.ecu.
NO! I do not wish to participate in this research
study.
_____________________________________
__________
Name
Date
(AFTER you finish this page, proceed to next page,
“Instructions and Forms for Learning Style
Personality Preference Sorters”.)
Instructions And Forms For Learning Style And
Personality Preference Sorters
WRITE YOUR CODE NUMBER HERE: __________
Learning Style
Complete the checksheet at
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
Record your results here: (Change one response
to bold italics on each of the four lines to
indicate your selection.)
Were you more….
Active?
Reflective? In the Middle (same
score for both)
Sensing? Intuitive?
In the Middle (same score for
both)
Visual? Verbal?
In the Middle (same score
for both)
Sequential? Global?
In the Middle (same score
for both)
Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator
Take the sorter at
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
What was your 4-letter type? _________
(example: ENFP)
(You don’t need to send copies of the checklists or
analyses. Just filling in the information in the
blanks above is enough.)
When you finish with these two checklists, proceed
to the last part of your participation – the Survey
– beginning on the next page.
Survey on Universal Design for Learning in On-Line
Courses
Please respond to each item below. Some items have
pull-down menus (they all have asterisks*),
and many have places for you to add your comments.
Thank you for your time in completing these surveys.
YOUR CODE NUMBER |
|
Your City |
|
Your State |
If outside NC, fill in here:
|
Age Group You Teach |
If
other, fill in here: |
Type Internet Connection |
|
Your Certification Area |
|
Are you teaching in your certification area?
|
|
Years you have taught? |
Write number here:
|
Number online courses taken? |
Write number here:
|
Proceed to Next Page
Which of the activities on the right have you
had the opportunity to try? |
Chat discussions
Discussion Board
Online Multiple Choice Reviews
Independent Reading and Responding to Content
Questions
Communication via Email with the Instructor
Communication via Telephone with the Instructor
Communication via Virtual Chat with Instructor
Independent Reading and Responding to Case
Studies
Video Streamed Lectures
Power Point Presentations on Content
Power Point Presentations with Voice-Over
2-way Audio Communication
Webquests
Writing Reports on Linked Internet Sites
Use of Linked Internet Sites for Supplementary
Information and Reference.
Problem-Solving Assignments
Other (explain here):
|
Are there any you haven’t tried that intrigue
you? If so, list them here. |
|
Proceed to Next Page
Please mark your 3 favorite internet course
activities. |
Chat
discussions
Discussion Board
Online Multiple Choice Reviews
Independent Reading and Responding to Content
Questions
Communication via Email with the Instructor
Communication via Telephone with the Instructor
Communication via Virtual Chat with Instructor
Independent Reading and Responding to Case
Studies
Video Streamed Lectures
Power Point Presentations on Content
Power Point Presentations with Voice-Over
2-way Audio Communication
”Webquests”
Writing Reports on Linked Internet Sites
Use of Linked Internet Sites for Supplementary
Information and Reference.
Problem-Solving Assignments
Other (explain here):
|
Rank Course Activities you chose from Favorite
(1) to Least Favorite (3) |
Rank your 3 favorite course activities (from
above) in order of your preference:
|
Comments on why they are your favorites?
Please mark your 3 LEAST favorite internet
course activities.
|
Chat discussions
Discussion Board
Online Multiple Choice Reviews
Independent Reading and Responding to
Content
Questions
Communication via Email with the Instructor
Communication via Telephone with the Instructor
Communication via Virtual Chat with Instructor
Independent Reading and Responding to Case
Studies
Video Streamed Lectures
Power Point Presentations on Content
Power Point Presentations with Voice-Over
2-way Audio Communication
Writing Reports on Linked Internet Sites
Use of Linked Internet Sites for Supplementary
Information and Reference.
Problem-Solving Assignments
Other (explain here): |
Comments on why they are your LEAST favorites?
Which are your preferred internet activities?
(Check all that apply.) |
Individual activities
Group Activities – Instructor Assigns Groups
Group Activities -- Student Selects Group
Whole Class Meets In Real Time
Other - Explain:
|
Which are NOT your preferred internet course
activities?
(Check ALL that apply) |
Individual activities
Group Activities – Instructor Assigns Groups
Group Activities -- Student Selects Group
Whole Class Meets In Real Time
Other - Explain:
|
Which types of assignments do you prefer in
online courses? |
Comments?
|
What types of feedback on your work do you
prefer?
(Check all that apply) |
Grades and percentages with lots of ongoing
written feedback, critiquing my responses.
Grades and percentages with occasional written
feedback, when I make errors or do something
unusually well.
Group assignment comments (instructor summarizes
feedback for all students in one document) are
fine with me, and can be very helpful.
Direct emails from the instructor.
Comments?
|
Would you be pursuing a masters degree if it
were not offered online? |
Comments?
|
About how far away from where you live is the
nearest university where you could obtain a
masters degree in your specialty area? |
miles |
Was convenience the primary factor that led you
to pursue this degree online? |
If other, please explain here:
|
If there were a face-to-face masters degree
program near where you live, would you pursue it
instead of the online program? |
|
If you responded YES, that you would prefer a
face-to-face program (if it were available),
tell why. |
|
If you responded NO, that you would NOT prefer a
face-to-face program (if it were available),
explain why. |
|
Do you prefer having choices of activities for
the competencies you are acquiring?
|
Please Comment:
|
Do you prefer having set assignments, with no
choices offered? |
Please Comment:
|
Do you think your performance in online courses
would be stronger if you had more flexibility in
the ways you receive instruction? |
Please Comment:
|
Do you think your performance in online courses
would be stronger if you had more flexibility in
the ways you interact with the learning
materials? |
Please Comment:
|
Do you think your performance in online courses
would be stronger if you had more flexibility in
the ways you demonstrate competency in
each assignment? |
Please Comment:
|
Some students feel that most online activities
are “busy work”.
If, in an online course, you were provided with
choices (a) in the instructional method used,
(b) of the method of interaction with content
and (c) of the method of demonstration of
competencies, would your perception of this
description change? |
Please Comment:
|
Do you have a slow, dial-up internet connection
that you use for online courses? |
|
If you answered “yes” that you have a slow
internet connection, are you sometimes not able
to complete work in the way it is assigned
(using video clips, virtual chat or other memory
intensive devices)? |
Please Comment:
|
If you have a slow internet connection, do you
think that courses that are more flexible in
instruction, engagement and demonstration of
competencies would make it easier for you to
succeed? |
Please
Comment: |
Do you think you are getting as good of an
educational experience as you would with a
face-to-face program? |
Please
Comment: |
If you could change one thing about the way
online courses are designed, what would it be? |
Comment here
|
Thank you for participating in our study! Please
save your responses in this document and send it as
an attachment to us via the following email address:
xxxxxxx@xxu.edu
Appendix B. Sample Item from UDL Unit
Activity 4 (40 points)
Choose ONE!!
Activity 4a
Consider and discuss both the pros and cons of
using UDL in general education classrooms. Explain
both sides in a 1-2 page (double-spaced) paper.
Cite information from the readings (at least 3) to
back up your points. Be sure to provide a
reference list at the end. Submit in the
Assignment section.
Activity 4b
Go to the textbook website, and then to Chapter
8. Complete the 3 of the 5 activities under
“guided review” (link is on left of page).
http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_salend_creating_5/0,9622,1582280-,00.html
Please do NOT submit them through the website, but
respond in a regular word processing document and
then submit to the assignments section.
Activity 4c
Discuss ways you have already incorporated
principle of UDL in your classrooms and how UDL
could be further incorporated into teaching and
classrooms this coming year in a 1-2 page
(double-spaced) paper. Explain how these fit into
the framework of (a) flexible means of
presentation; (b) flexible means of engagement and
(c) flexible means of expression.
4d Create a differentiation or UDL “Web Quest”.
For information on and examples of webquests, go
to
www.webquest.org. They also have a section
there to take you through the whole process.
|