Oral Roberts University is refining its established, national award-winning learning outcomes assessment to ensure that the learning outcomes specifications and measurements are even more in parsimony with recognized theories of learning and intelligence. These outcomes are being measured across the board for online, blended, and traditional classroom courses.

1. Marty Crossland, PhD
Dean of ORU Online Campus
Associate Professor of MIS
Oral Roberts University
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Integrating Established Learning Theories
Into Online Learning Outcomes Assessment
Using learning and intelligence theories intelligently.
Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning, October 29, 2009
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2. Oral Roberts University
 Tulsa, Oklahoma (United States)
 Established 1963
 3000+ students, including 130 fully online
 60+ degree programs
 Specialized accreditation in five schools:
Business, Education, Nursing, Engineering, & Theology
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3. Assessment is major-league at ORU
 Institution-wide general education outcomes
 Spiritually
Alive
 Socially
Adept
 Intellectually
Alert
 Physically
Disciplined
 Professionally
Competent
 ePortfolio
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4. ORU nationally recognized in 2007 by the
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
www.chea.org
 The “accreditor of the accreditors”
 Four criteria for the award
 Articulation and evidence of outcomes
 Success with regard to outcomes
 Information to the public about outcomes
 Using outcomes for improvement
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5. Student Learning Outcomes Proficiencies and Capacities
Biblical Knowledge
Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
Spiritually Alive
Evangelistic Capability
Ethical Behavior
Critical Thinking
Information Literacy
Intellectually Alert Global and Historical Perspectives
Aesthetic Appreciation
Intellectual Creativity
Healthy Lifestyle
Physically Disciplined
Physically Disciplined Lifestyle
Communication Skills
Interpersonal Skills
Socially Adept Appreciation of Cultural and Linguistic Differences
Responsible Citizenship
Leadership Capacity
Professionally Discipline-specific according to
Competent the Outcomes of each student’s major program

6. For new distance programs:
New courses are being designed from
the ground up with assessment in mind
 Purposeful instructional design
 External curriculum standards,
when available
 Assessment artifacts reflect higher-order
learning as discussed in Bloom's taxonomy
Bloom’s Rose: (.pdf document)
 Use Desire2Learn Competencies and Rubrics
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7. What it looks like in Desire2Learn
 The competencies and learning objectives specified for
the institution – Competency Structures
Competency
(Gen Ed Outcome)
Competency
Sub-competency Sub-competency
(Proficiency) (Proficiency)
Learning
Objective
Learning Learning Learning
Objective Objective Objective
Activity Activity Activity Activity Activity
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8. The-chicken-or-the-egg question
Student-centered learning,
or
Teacher-centered learning?
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9. Preferred Learning Styles
Auditory Visual Kinesthetic
listening and speaking Seeing and reading touching and doing
Learning Modality Preference Inventory, 1999,
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~jmcgowan/CTE344/session3/Modalityinventory.pdf,
(retrieved October 20, 2009).
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10. Successful Intelligence
Analytical Creative Practical
problem solving idea generation constructive motivation
Teaching for Successful Intelligence (2nd ed.). R.J Sternberg and E.L. Grigorenko.
Corwin Press (SAGE Publications), 2007.
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11. Multiple Intelligences – 8 Ways of Knowing
Logical-Mathematical Verbal-Linguistic
Visual-Spatial Naturalist
Multiple Intelligences Approaches to Assessment. David Lazear. Zephyr Press, 1999.
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12. Multiple Intelligences – 8 Ways of Knowing
Musical-Rhythmic Bodily-Kinesthetic
Interpersonal Intrapersonal
Multiple Intelligences Approaches to Assessment. David Lazear. Zephyr Press, 1999.
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13. Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences
http://www.edutopia.org/howard-gardner-interview
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14. Learning Styles versus
ORU Whole Person Assessment
Multiple Successful Preferred
ORU Assessment Intelligences Intelligences Learning Styles
Outcome Theory Theory Theory
Spiritually Alive Intrapersonal, Analytical, Creative, Visual, Auditory,
Interpersonal, Practical Kinesthetic ??
Naturalist
Intellectually Alert Linguistic, logical- Analytical, Creative, Visual, Auditory,
Mathematical, Practical Kinesthetic
Naturalist, Spatial,
(musical?)
Socially Adept Linguistic, Analytical, Creative, Visual, Auditory
Intrapersonal, Practical
interpersonal
Physically Bodily-kinesthetic, Analytical, Creative, Kinesthetic
Disciplined (Spatial?) Practical
Professionally All that apply to the Analytical, Creative, Visual, Auditory,
Competent chosen profession Practical Kinesthetic

15. Summary
 ORU is continuing its strong progress in assessment into
new distance programs
 Online programs will receive the benefit of:
 Prior experience in assessment
 New tools
 New thinking about reasons and ways to do assessment
 Ground-up design of courses and programs for assessment
 Assessment integration up, down, and across the curriculum
and organization is possible and practical
 Integration of learning styles and intelligence theories into
the assessment model
 Very much still a work in progress
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16. Thank you!
Comments and suggestions are welcome!
Dr. Marty Crossland
(918) 495-7003
mcrossland@oru.edu
My Teaching With Technology Blog:
twt.oruonline.net
This presentation:
www.slideshare.net/mcrossland
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