Graduate Online Course

[HigherEd7]

Is there is a real difference between teaching undergraduate and graduate online courses? And the course assignments.

[downer]

Yes.

[Parasaurolophus]

Of course. The grads are better prepared, can do a lot more of the work themselves, and need much more detailed and nuanced guidance because they're operating at a higher level.

And their assignments should reflect that. They're on their way to becoming world-class experts in the field.

[spork]

Yes.

Also yes.

[MarathonRunner]

Definitely. I've taken online courses during my undergraduate degree, my master's degree, and my doctoral degree. There is much more engagement with the course material, including discussion forums, online meetings (via Microsoft Teams, Adobe Connect, Zoom, etc.) in the graduate courses. The graduate courses also require greater depth in terms of critical thinking and rely more upon assignments, presentations, and papers as opposed to quizzes and exams.

[jerseyjay]

I interpreted the question differently. Not, is there a difference between teaching graduate vs undergraduate courses. Of course there is--and I assume anybody in a position to teach (or take) online graduate courses would know this.

Rather, I took it to mean, are online graduate courses done differently (e.g., Zoom, discussion boards, etc.).

Probably if I taught a history graduate class online, it would be much simpler than an undergraduate course. Blackboard would probably have dropboxes for whatever assignments, a copy of the syllabus, and maybe links to relevant resources. Zoom sessions would probably require more interaction (including presentations) and I would probably require students to show themselves. But I would probably not use many of the bells and whistles in Blackboard.

An online MBA course might be different.

[KiUlv]

I don't teach any undergrads, but I expect the grad students I teach to take control of more of the material. Planning and leading small group discussions based on readings (in addition to what I share in class), more group activities during class that have a tangible result. Basically, I expect more leadership and ownership over the material than I would expect from undergrads, and this informs how I set up the online course. However, I have also found that some grad students feel more like undergrads in terms of their ability to engage with and lead material. It's almost like a few of these students just skipped undergrad somehow and we missed it in the admissions process...