7 Principles of Undergraduate Teaching vs. Ikarus

Criteria	Notes
7 Principles of Best Practice in Undergraduate Tecahing vs. Ikarus "The 'seven principles' are the best known summary of what decades of educational research indicates are the kinds of teaching/learning activities most likely to improve learning outcomes." (from http://www.tltgroup.org/Seven/Home.htm)
Encourages student-faculty contact	Examples of where moderators where communicating with students well (e.g. during group projects when we had trouble or questions) and poorly (no guidance provided unless called for – not something I am against). One thing I did not like was that I was once discouraged from commenting on others' postings too early!
Encourages student-student contact	This shows in the addition of a café and chat room (part of design) and the alumni forum (when assignments ended). A lot of work was done in cooperative groups. But also give examples where student-student contact was halted (e.g. replying to individual reflections at the beginning – same example as above).
Encourages active learning	Activities included reflecting on articles read, researching ways of using different technologies (e.g. weblogs, chat) in eLearning, two group projects and quizzes. All of these require active engagement, and there was almost nothing "given".
Gives Prompt Feedback	This was mostly true... our pedagogy facilitator seemed to be very good at keeping up with everything everyone was saying and responding. During groupwork, our facilitator was fast to respond to our needs, despite time zone differences. There was one time when our facilitator had to be away for a while and someone else stepped in for a while to make up. The facilitator of group work also used to give periodical summary report (weaving)
Encourage more time on task and reduces wasted time	Nooooooo time was tooooooo tight, even given the asynchronous nature of most activities.
Communicates high expectations	Not sure. I didn't feel that expectations by facilitators were that high but given the time constraints, they shouldn't have been!
Supports diverse student talents and ways of learning	Yes, this was the strength I gave as the "best thing about Ikarus" (please see Best Thing About Ikarus).
Encourages active learning	.