To understand best practices in CBE design, comparing the control group data (independent learners) to the data set of a cohorted, curated learning experience is made. Hypothesis: Cohorts will have the greater learning delta. Understanding which cohorted experience pieces have the greatest impact can guide future CBL learning designs.
CBE coursework has a number of elements that contribute to the effectiveness of learning outcomes. This session will examine two specific CBE pathways. The first is a self-paced, online environment that contains content in a variety of formats as well as pre and post assessments. The second is a cohorted experience that is more synchronous (in order to keep the cohort moving together) and punctuated by synchronous sessions.
In the first group, learners are allowed to self-select from a variety of CBE modules and will consume the content and assessments on their own timeframe (with loose recommnedations). There will be the usual content of media, text, interactive elements and assessments. In the second group, the content will be identical, so the results should be able to shed light on the only variable (the cohort experience).
While both pathways will have very similar components, they should have different learning outcomes borne out by the learning deltas between the pre and post assessments.
Effectiveness will be measured by comparing the pre-assessment to the post-assessment scores. Finding the learning delta, then, should reveal the effectiveness of each pathway.
Hypothesis
While mostly asynchronous, CBE can be more effective when learners are put in a cohort and achieve a shared, virtual learning experience. Hypothesis: Cohorted CBE learners will have a higher learning delta when compared to CBE learners who are not in a cohort.
Learns and Future Thoughts
This session will attempt to isolate cohort learning effectiveness as it pertains specifically to CBL online learning. Both the control group and the experiment group will be learning through similar delivery systems, and both will have a measurable learning delta (the difference between pre-assessment and post-assessment scores). The outcomes of this study could have great impact on future learning designs in CBL.