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Abstract

Colleges and universities today are finding themselves under increasing pressure to change the practices of teaching. Rapid advancements in technology and demands of a knowledge-based society quickly change expectations and standards in higher education. Technology brings alternative ways to organizing and conveying information. The paradigm of predominantly linear process of learning is shifting to set new trends in online education with applications of differing teaching and learning styles. One of the challenges is to create dynamic learning communities that are learner-centered rather than teaching-centered. This paper discusses the importance of rubrics and components of team-based learning in online education utilizing results of a survey that was administered in an undergraduate Marketing class conducted at a Midwest University’s Business Administration Program. The paper proposes strategies for building effective learning communities in online environments by utilizing rubrics and other team-based learning strategies that can improve the online experience. Our contribution is to evaluate the effectiveness of various tools and components of team-based learning to assist faculty creating student-centered learning goals and outcomes to build dynamic online learning communities. Our findings confirm that rubrics and survey results support current literature on the effectiveness of team-based and small-group learning and the importance of rubrics in online education.

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