The Skillful Teacher

The Importance of Research
As described in Chapter Three, the Critical Incident Questionnaire
(CIQ) solicits information from students about how they are experi-
encing the course. In online environments this works in exactly the
same way as in face-to-face teaching. After collecting students’
anonymous opinions at least once a week, instructors regularly report
a summary of these to students and consider what they mean for the
online environment. Because of information gained from the CIQ,
teachers sometimes change features of the online class to make it
more satisfactory for students. At other times they have to rejustify
and reexplain why they can’t change the course organization and why
activities that are disliked by learners are integral to students’ intel-
lectual development. As with its classroom variant, it is essential that
CIQ feedback from students be captured in the form of anonymous,
written responses, and securing this anonymity initially posed prob-
lems for me in my early efforts teaching online. However, two ways
to address this problem are available. First, students can go to the Dis-
cussion Postings on a WebCT page and check a box that automati-
cally records all responses for that particular posting as anonymous.
An alternative is to have a students-only course listserv or chat room
where students post their CIQ responses to each other and then have
one of their number compile these and post the summary to faculty.
Since most online class activities are asynchronous, it is impor-
tant to specify on each CIQ the inclusive dates that constitute the
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“week” in question. Otherwise the questions are the same as for the
face-to-face version:
1. At what moment during this week of online class were you most
engaged as a learner?
2. At what moment during this week of online class were you most
distanced as a learner?
3. What action that anyone took during this week of online class did
you find most affirming or helpful?
4. What action that anyone took during this week of online class did
you find most puzzling or confusing?
5. What surprised you most about online class during this week?
After analyzing the CIQ responses using the same procedure out-
lined in Chapter Three, the results are reported in a prominent
place on the course welcome page (or in an e-mail posting to all
learners) to ensure that students read them. Students are then
invited to post written reactions, questions, and elaborations regard-
ing the CIQ summary that all students in the class can view and
consider. Then, based on what is received, the instructor proposes,
if necessary, a course of action to address the concerns raised.