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Developing an observation protocol for online STEM courses.

Brian S Horvitz¹, Whitney DeCamp², Regina Garza Mitchell¹

¹Department of Educational Leadership, Research & Technology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, United States of America.

|January 25, 2024

Summary

Researchers developed a new observational protocol to study online undergraduate STEM courses. This tool helps improve the quality of online STEM education by providing non-evaluative data for reflection and enhancement.

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Area of Science:

STEM Education
Online Learning
Educational Technology

Background:

Online instruction in undergraduate STEM courses is rapidly expanding.
Validated instruments for studying face-to-face teaching are available, but analogous tools for online STEM courses are lacking.
Tools are essential for quality design and control in online STEM education.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a non-evaluative observational protocol for describing, studying, and improving online undergraduate STEM courses.
To address the need for reliable instruments to assess online STEM teaching practices.

Main Methods:

A sequential exploratory mixed methods approach was used for instrument development, including research, design, pilot-testing, refinement, and implementation.
The final instrument was tested by pairs of researchers observing online undergraduate STEM courses.
Data analysis involved calculating agreement rates between observers.

Main Results:

The observational protocol achieved an agreement rate of 77.4% across 2,394 pairs of observations, exceeding the 75% threshold.
Inter-rater reliability varied among items, indicating a need for further refinement of the instrument.
The protocol provides a foundational tool for collecting descriptive data on online STEM course elements.

Conclusions:

The developed observational protocol is a foundational, work-in-progress instrument for online STEM education.
Further development and use by practitioners are recommended for reflection and improvement of online teaching practices.
This tool supports the systematic study and enhancement of online undergraduate STEM course delivery.