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Focus Group Fundamentals for Government Programs. This is an introduction for federal government program managers on how to collect customer feedback via focus groups. Focus groups are moderated, small-group discussions where a pre-selected group of people (usually current, past or potential customers) discuss their preferences, attitudes and opinions about products or services. While this fact sheet focuses on in-person focus groups, they can also be held over the phone. Feedback from focus groups is qualitative, and is often combined with quantitative feedback to inform customer service decisions. Basics Participants Designing a focus group Operational Details Basics 1.

Focus groups provide more detailed and nuanced feedback than surveys, and are particularly helpful for capturing general preferences, attitudes and opinions, testing agency assumptions, and collecting responses to current or future offerings. A. B. C. 2. 3. Yes, so you need to be aware of pitfalls. Group dynamics. 4. Back to Top Participants 1. 2. 3. Designing a focus group. The Dreaded Blackboard Discussion: Incorporating Videos in Online Learning | Katherine Rye Jewell. This semester I am teaching Modern America: 1920-1945 in an online format. I’ve been teaching online for about three years now, and each time I offer a course I employ a new discussion structure and assignment system, always searching for better ways to impart more skills to my students.I’m no fan of the Blackboard Discussion Board.

Not only does Blackboard’s interface look like it was designed by Soviet missile engineers in 1979, I find the hierarchical and clunky structure of the discussion board itself flawed.However, until my survey next semester, other than a brief flirtation with Wikispaces and the former Coursekit (now Lore), I have not ventured into alternative formats, preferring not to mess with additional log-ins with online only classes. In an attempt to create a bit more of an interesting and personal environment this semester was to embed videos of historians discussing topics from the reading to help frame each week’s discussion. Here is the discussion prompt: Like this: Northwestern MPPA Network. Northwestern MPPA Network. Northwestern University MS Predictive Analytics. SCS Distance Learning › Log In.

Faculty Services. Grading policies are detailed in the Faculty Handbook. It is your responsibility to become familiar with these policies. In general, grading policies are: Graduate Grades given for credit-bearing classes are A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C- and F (for failing work). Undergraduate Grades given for credit-bearing courses are: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F. Incomplete Grades In rare circumstances, students may be granted an Authorized Incomplete, designated with a grade of Y. Submitting Grades Final grades are submitted in CAESAR. Grading starts at the beginning of the final week of the quarter and concludes just after the end of the quarter.

Grading Resources Academic Integrity Any suspected instances of academic integrity violation should be reported immediately to the Assistant Dean of the program in which you are teaching. Information for Newly-admitted Graduate Students, Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. Public Safety Education and Law Enforcement Training | NUCPS.

NUCPS Partners with TÜV Rheinland to Improve Traffic Safety in South Africa NUCPS recently began a long-term traffic safety initiative in South Africa. Learn more about how NUCPS is working with TÜV Rheinland to improve traffic safety in southern Africa. International SPSC Graduates Third Class in Pristina, Kosovo Tracy Ann Jacobson, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo, was the keynote speaker at the recent graduation of the third International School of Police and Staff Command in Pristina, Kosovo.

The ten-week class brought together law enforcement officials from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo. Read more . In the News - Forensic Art Instructor Lois Gibson In a recent essay in the journal Clinics in Dermatology , NUCPS forensic art instructor Lois Gibson explains the potential for dermatologists and law enforcement to work together to improve crime investigations. Continuum. Graduate Programs offered at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. Online Master's Degree and Certificate Programs at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. Online Master of Science in Predictive Analytics, Graduate Programs at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies.

Program Overview: “Big Data.” You can find the term everywhere in the media tied to growth and innovation across the public and private sectors in nearly every major industry. But what does “Big Data” really mean? More importantly, how can organizations benefit from it? The Master of Science in Predictive Analytics (MSPA) program, established in 2011, is a fully online part-time graduate program, one of the first to offer dedicated training in data science.

Master of Science in Information Systems Online and On Campus, Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. Course Listings for the Master of Science in Information Systems, Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. Online Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration, Graduate Programs at Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. The Master's in Medical Informatics Online Graduate Program, Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. Course Calendar for the Medical Informatics Online Master's Program, Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies. Medill Intergrated Marketing Communications Online Master's Program, Northwestern University. SCS DL Philosophy - Northwestern SCS DL Philosophy.pdf. Joel Shapiro, Faculty & Research: Northwestern University Law School. CI484-Learning-Technologies - Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism & Connectivism.

Source: Ireland, T. (2007)BEHAVIORISMAccording to the learning theories propounded by the behaviorists learning is a mechanical process of associating the stimulus with response, which produces a new behavior. Such behavior is strengthened by the reinforcement. Main proponents of this theory were J.B.Watson and I.Pavlov. Behaviorists view the learner as a passive person who responds to the stimuli. According to them the learner starts as tabula rasa ( which means clean slate) and the behavior is shaped by the reinforcement.

Use of this theory: The techniques of reinforcement and punishment have been employed by the teachers in the classrooms to promote desirable behavior and discourage unwanted behavior of the learners.Strengths:1. Weaknesses: 1. Cognitivism refers to the study of the mind and how it obtains, processes, and stores information (Stavredes, 2011). Constructivism is the study of a learner's own construction of knowledge (Learning Theories, 2011c). Vygotsky and Constructivism. CoI Model | Community of Inquiry. An educational community of inquiry is a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and confirm mutual understanding. The Community of Inquiry theoretical framework represents a process of creating a deep and meaningful (collaborative-constructivist) learning experience through the development of three interdependent elements - social, cognitive and teaching presence.

Social presence is “the ability of participants to identify with the community (e.g., course of study), communicate purposefully in a trusting environment, and develop inter-personal relationships by way of projecting their individual personalities.” (Garrison, 2009) Teaching Presence is the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001). Garrison, D. Related Files. Universal design for instruction. Universal Instructional Design (UID) or Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) is an educational framework for applying universal design principles to learning environments with a goal toward greater accessibility for all students, including students with disabilities .

UDI involves considering the potential needs of all learners when designing and delivering instruction by identifying and eliminating unnecessary barriers to teaching and learning while maintaining academic rigor. [ 1 ] UDI is thus proactive and benefits all students, in contrast to providing accommodations for a specific student (e.g., providing a sign language interpreter for a student who is deaf ). Background [ edit ] Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) applies and adapts universal design principles and the Principles of Universal Design [ 2 ] to learning environments and learning products, with a goal toward maximizing learning for all students. Principles of UDI [ edit ] The Process of UDI [ edit ] Needsassessment.org. Home - Journal of Interactive Online Learning. Evaluating Online Learning: Challenges and Strategies for Success -- TOC. Evaluating Online Courses | Office of Faculty and Organizational Development. Introduction The evaluation of online courses involves many of the same criteria applied to traditional classroom courses but also necessitates the use of new criteria more directly based on the online environment.

The course evaluation materials below offer a range of rubrics and guidelines for help in developing effective practices for evaluating online courses. Online Course Evaluation Rubrics or Checklists Quality Matters in Online Learning, QM. A national non-profit organization dedicated to quality assurance in online education. Michigan State University Quality Matters: Teaching Tools MSU has a campus subscription to QM. Quality Online Course Initiative Rubric and Checklist (Illinois Online Network). Central Michigan University Quality Assurance Checklist. Online Course Evaluation Project (OCEP), Monterey Institute for Technology and Education. Online Course Development Guide and Rubric (University of Southern Mississippi Learning Enhancement Center).

Back to top Online Research. Michigan Community College Association Virtual Learning Collaborative :: Online Course Development Guidelines and Rubric. Illinois Online Network: Initiatives. Creating a sustainable online instructor observation system: A case study highlighting flaws when blending mentoring and evaluation | Schulte. Marthann Schulte, Kay Dennis, Michael Eskey, Cathy Taylor, and Heather Zeng Park University, United States Abstract Quality and accountability mandates require institutions to monitor online instruction in a uniform and complete manner.

In many institutions, instructor training is sparse and faculty evaluation occurs only through end-of-course student evaluations that may or may not yield adequate information on how the instructor performs online. Consequently, the online instructor evaluation system (OIES) was developed to ensure the finest quality educational experience for online students via a systematic approach to faculty training, mentoring, and evaluation.

Research has shown that combining mentoring and evaluation is not feasible, and therefore another approach is warranted. Keywords: Distance education; online learning; faculty; instructor; training; mentoring; observation; evaluation; online Introduction Literature Review Background Community in the Classroom Outcomes of the OIES. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, Volume 23.