Realistic course previews for online students.

Abstract

The first day of class is an important time for both students and instructors. Online student expectations are likely to affect course success as well as instructor evaluations. An approach designed to foster more realistic expectations among online students is described. This approach, the "Realistic Course Preview" (RCP), provides new students with recommendations and information from veteran students. Several issues relating to the development and implementation of online RCPs as well as how instructors can vary their RCPs are also discussed in the paper.

Introduction

The first day of class presents instructors with a variety of challenges. As Kirp (1997) put it with regard to the start of a traditional course, he is "as nervous as a host who wonders whether anyone will come to his party." Typically, the first day of a class is filled with strangers who are not sure what to say or how to act (Dorn, 1987). In attempting to define tiffs situation, students can rely on other students as well as the instructor to provide clarity and direction. Much attention has been devoted to how instructors of traditional courses can facilitate student "entry" on the first day.

It is important for students to be able to navigate academia and understand their course expectations because these expectations can affect both their learning and their course and instructor evaluations (Allgood et al., 2000). Researchers have shown that students' evaluations of traditional instructors and courses at the beginning of the term are related to their evaluations at the end of the term (Barke et al., 1983; Parish & Campbell, 1977; Remedios et al., 2000). Such findings suggest that first-day student impressions of instructor and course are likely to be enduring. This highlights the importance of giving students a realistic and accurate view of what they can expect. Researchers have given little attention to online students' expectations about their courses and instructors. Just as with traditional courses (Davis, 1993; Wolcowitz, 1984), online students' ability to navigate their courses and understand course expectations are critical. Despite its importance, there is very little discussion of how instructors initially introduce their course content and teaching style to their online students. There has been much more attention devoted to this question as it applies to traditional courses. In this paper, the major issues related to the first day of class are reviewed and a simple, powerful, and effective tool is described to enhance the accuracy of online students' expectations for their courses.

The First Day of Class

Instructors have a good deal of control over the first day of a traditional class. Most of the students arrive at the appropriate time and coordinates, and they are a captive audience for a set period of time. They are likely to have some degree of anxiety and uncertainty, which can be addressed by the instructor (Cowan & Piepgrass, 1997). Contrast this with the "first day" of an asynchronous online class--students access the course remotely and they come and go as they please. Online instructors are unable to immediately answer questions and they usually have much less control over where students go in the course and how long they stay there. Student anxiety and uncertainty are also likely to be less obvious to the instructor and more difficult to reduce. One strategy to facilitate students' entry into an online course is to require them to meet face-to-face for the first class. This allows instructors much more control over what information they can present to their students and better ensures that students understand administrative details. If online instructors are able to meet students in person on the first day, then there are a variety of tools and approaches they can employ. In a study of psychology student opinions about what does and does not work well in traditional first-class meetings, Perlman and McCann (1999) found that students liked course overviews that specify the structure and organization of the course, as welt as instructors who provide some background about themselves. Students' "pet peeves" included first-day classes that used time poorly or were disorganized and instructors who started course content that day.