Regardless of the course, whether an introductory one or a capstone, I believe one of the primary objectives of instructors is to ensure that we pique our students' intellectual curiosity. By engaging students in the process of intellectual development, we can help ensure they leave our courses not only with the skills inherent in the material, but with a desire to expand their learning endeavors into new areas. This can help the student in two significant ways. The first being they can transfer intellectual curiosity into their proceeding courses. Secondly, students can apply intellectual curiosity toward their professional and personal lives, helping to make the educational process more holistic in nature. The crucial feature of building intellectual acumen is that students will become lifelong learners. There are several strategies to help bring this process to fruition.

The first is the content of the course (Meyer & McNeal, 2011). The prescribed content of an online course can pose challenges for the instructor; however, we as faculty should attempted to bring in outside material to help students engage in the learning process. We can also focus on our students' access to us as faculty. By establishing frequent and continuing communication with our students, we can assuage the shortcomings of virtual communication. Developing methods to increase student-to-student interaction is another salient strategy to help pique intellectual curiosity (Charalambos, Michalinos, & Chamberline, 2004). Given the diversity of the student population, if we can help connect students with each other-likeminded or otherwise-we can help create an environment similar to the best ground-based learning environments with peer-to-peer learning being one possible outcome (Murdock & Williams, 2011). We should also demand that students' exhibit effort in the learning process - instructors should not work harder than students. To accomplish this we should focus on experiential learning (making the knowledge less esoteric), encourage independent learning by asking students to extend their efforts beyond the parameters of the course, and provide edifying feedback that encourages the student to achieve more.

In addition, we should strive to make connections between the knowledge gained in the classroom to the real-world. For instance, time management is one of the main points of emphasize in many introductory courses. Many students already have these skills, but fail to make the connection (Meyer & McNeal, 2012). By correlating course material to real-world situations, the material becomes actionable, and the student can gain an in-depth understanding that extends outside of the classroom format. Your thoughts?

Thanks,

Eric

Reference:

Charalambos, V., Michalinos, Z., & Chamberline, R. (2004). The design of online learning communities: Critical issues. Education Media Journal, 41, 135-142. doi:10.1080.09523980410001678593

Meyer, K. A., & McNeal, L. (2011). How online faculty improve student learning productivity. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 3, 37-53. Retrieved from http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/jaln_main?page=1

Murdock, J. L., & Williams, A. M. (2011). Creating an online learning community: Is it possible? Innovation in Higher Education, 36, 305-315. doi:10,1007/s10755-011-9188-6