OEC Online Pedagogy 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of a course welcome video posted by the instructor at the start of an online class?
- To replace the syllabus document
- To establish instructor presence and reduce student anxiety (Correct answer)
- To demonstrate video editing skills
- To fulfill LMS technical requirements
Correct answer: To establish instructor presence and reduce student anxiety
A welcome video humanizes the instructor, establishes social and teaching presence, and helps students feel more comfortable in the online environment.
Question 2: When designing rubrics for online discussion boards, which element is MOST important to include?
- Word count minimums only
- Criteria for quality of content and peer interaction (Correct answer)
- A grading scale based solely on number of posts
- Deadlines for first and follow-up posts
Correct answer: Criteria for quality of content and peer interaction
Effective discussion rubrics assess both the quality of student contributions and meaningful interaction with peers, not just quantity.
Question 3: An instructor notices that several students have not logged into the LMS for five days. What is the BEST immediate action?
- Lower those students' participation grades
- Send a personal outreach message to check on each student (Correct answer)
- Post a general reminder to the class forum
- Wait until the next assignment deadline
Correct answer: Send a personal outreach message to check on each student
Proactive, personalized outreach to disengaged students can identify barriers and improve retention before students fall too far behind.
Question 4: Which of the following BEST describes the concept of 'cognitive presence' in the Community of Inquiry framework?
- The instructor's visible involvement in the course
- Students' emotional connection to classmates
- The process of constructing meaning through reflection and discourse (Correct answer)
- The technical reliability of the online platform
Correct answer: The process of constructing meaning through reflection and discourse
Cognitive presence refers to learners' ability to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse within the community.
Question 5: A teacher wants to promote higher-order thinking in an online course. Which Bloom's Taxonomy level should discussion prompts target?
- Remembering
- Understanding
- Analyzing and Evaluating (Correct answer)
- Defining
Correct answer: Analyzing and Evaluating
Analyzing and evaluating represent higher-order thinking in Bloom's Taxonomy, encouraging students to critique, compare, and judge information.
Question 6: Which strategy BEST supports student motivation in a self-paced online course?
- Removing all deadlines to maximize flexibility
- Setting milestone checkpoints with instructor feedback (Correct answer)
- Limiting course content to reduce overwhelm
- Requiring students to email progress reports weekly
Correct answer: Setting milestone checkpoints with instructor feedback
Milestone checkpoints provide structure, accountability, and timely feedback that sustain student motivation in self-paced environments.
Question 7: What does UDL (Universal Design for Learning) primarily advocate for?
- Designing courses exclusively for students with disabilities
- Providing multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression (Correct answer)
- Standardizing all online courses to one format
- Reducing the variety of assessment types used
Correct answer: Providing multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression
UDL calls for offering multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement so all learners can access and demonstrate learning.
OEC Online Pedagogy 3
What is the primary purpose of a course welcome video posted by the instructor at the start of an online class?