The Illinois State University Assessment Advisory Council and University Assessment Services staff has selected a proposal submitted by the Department of Politics and Government for a 2020-2021 Assessment Initiative Award. The proposed project focuses on informing departmental faculty how to best design and implement their future online courses through indirect evidence from students regarding their recent online course experiences.

In its award letter, the committee noted the importance of the project because it “provides an important initiative that examines student learning in online courses, both synchronous and asynchronous, and the elements of course design and instruction that students perceive to best promote their learning, as well as the extent to which those perceptions may be different across course modalities and student characteristics.”

The principal investigator of the project is Dr. L.J. Zigerell, the department’s assessment director. The project will be conducted in fall 2020 and spring 2021.