KYVU Online Excellence Award Winners

2004-2005 Competition

The KYVU heartily thanks this year’s judges for all their good work: Larry Albert (Morehead State University); Sandy Cook (KY Community and Technical College System); Stan Cooke (Western KY University); Andy Detskas (Michigan State University); Doug Robertson (Northern KY University); Katherine Thomas (Southeast Community and Technical College and editor of The Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning); and, Enid Wohlstein (KY Virtual Library).

These judges worked together over several months in order to identify the submissions that exhibited high-quality, interactive learner-centered experiences, which demonstrate that:

• the students advanced significantly in relation to the course objectives,
• technological tools were used in an innovative way to undergird the pedagogy, and
• the submission can serve as an exemplar for others who offer courses via KYVU.

The winners of the 2005 KYVU Online Excellence Awards were honored at the May 2005 CPE Faculty Development conference with a trophy, a certificate and a $500 honorarium.

2005 Winners

Sue Greer-Pitt
Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College
www.southeast.kctcs.edu/faculty/sgreerpitt0001/KYVUawardapplication

In Ms. Greer-Pitt’s online showcase, you will see that she describes how her course reflects all 7 of the principles of good practice. For this online course for Introductory Sociology, she emphasized in particular these four principles:

• Encourage Contacts Between Students and Instructors
• Develop Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students
• Give Prompt Feedback
• Communicate High Expectations

Our judges for the KYVU Online Excellence Awards unanimously agreed that her orientation module was an important part of her demonstrated success in putting students in groups and interacting effectively online. Her detailed feedback in exams and interjections in the course discussion forums are well worth looking at as a model for good online teaching whether you are new or experienced. The way she has personalized the learning experience for her students is a great way to attract and keep adult learners on track in postsecondary education and boost our graduation rates.

Lori Houghton-Estes
Bluegrass Community & Technical College District - Lexington Community College
www.uky.edu/LCC/rine/WS201DistanceLearning/index.htm
NOTE: This page containes videos that may require Windows Media Player and the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec available at the bottom of this page: www.techsmith.com/products/studio/codec.asp.

You will enjoy looking at the showcase of Ms. Houghton-Estes’ work: she accompanies her presentation with an audio-video commentary that helps you see why her online presence is so successful. In describing her introductory humanities course for Women’s Studies, Ms. Houghton-Estes emphasized these six principles:

• Encourage Contacts Between Students and Instructors
• Develop Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students
• Use Active Learning Techniques
• Give Prompt Feedback
• Emphasize Time on Task
• Respect Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning

The reviewers of this award nomination were happy to see the creative solution for the showcase: as one reviewer noted, “Her Camtasia presentations demonstrating the course were fantastic...” But the glitzy submission did not overwhelm the basic qualities of excellence in the course itself. Clearly Ms. Houghton-Estes knows how to communicate with learners and to cultivate interpersonal scholarly relationships by leading the online discussions and group projects so diligently.

Sally Kuhlenschmidt
Western Kentucky University
www.wku.edu/~sally.kuhlenschmidt/7principles

Dr. Kuhlenschmidt is a clinical psychologist whose work in faculty instructional development and teaching has benefited the work of many people and organizations in Kentucky, including the CPE. Her showcase focuses on her creative design for a required junior/senior level course on Psychology Tests and Measurement that – as she shows in her narrative – helps her often techno-phobe students start to feel comfortable about statistical analysis. Her showcase explains how her course design reflects all seven principles:

• Encourage Contacts Between Students and Instructors
• Develop Reciprocity and Cooperation Among Students
• Use Active Learning Techniques
• Give Prompt Feedback
• Emphasize Time on Task
• Communicate High Expectations
• Respect Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning

The reviewers of her award nomination were impressed with the depth of understanding of the 7 Principles and in particular the syllabus – which can be a great model for any online teacher – the heavy emphasis on the skills for the best use of discussion boards, and the design of the course itself which addresses the students’ emotional needs and encourages the busy adult learner to keep at it and succeed.

See 2002 and 2003 winners of the KYVU Online Excellence Award.

Back to KYVU Online Excellence Awards Showcase.

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