Trying to Overcome Compartmentalization

Posted on April 22, 2012 by sakuraip

I definitely have work to do in all five areas, but right off the bat, Pitfall #1 (“Upload your course materials, then call it a day”) really struck a nerve of recognition, especially in relation to how I have set up my strictly online course, ES 101, which I have taught for Ecampus over the past several years. While I have tried to put a lot of thought into the ways in which students interact with each other (participating in online discussion, sharing their assignments, etc.) and designing assignments focused on applying what they have learned to their own research projects and critical analyses, I realize that I have neglected trying to find a more interactive approach when it comes to my own engagement with course material vis-à-vis interaction with students. Sadly, I am that person who has posted a textual equivalent of weekly lectures and then called it a day.

While I think the hybrid format by nature will help combat such compartmentalization between students’ engagement with course material and how I present my own observations since it retains the face-to-face component (hence my excitement about participating in this program), I also know I cannot assume that such interaction will happen automatically. Coming from the other direction and thinking about my on-campus classes, Pitfall #3 (“Insist on being the ‘sage on the stage'”) has me rethinking how I present my take on course material in those classes as well.

This week’s mix map assignment was especially helpful in terms of thinking very deliberately about how the various components of my class might interact with each other in relation to learning outcomes (frankly, it has me wanting to overhaul all of my classes). So while I’m not sure exactly what it will look like, I am excited about exploring possible alternative means of presenting course material and at the same time engaging students in much more interactive ways and in ways that take advantage of the hybrid format. In short, I know I need to step back and think of my course in much more holistic terms.

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Letting go of the belief that the way that I taught in the past was the best way…

Posted on April 21, 2012 by harwella

Coming up as a graduate student I was never taught how to teach. I had to actively seek out my own information from seminars (which were hard to find) and literature about teaching and piece together my teaching philosophy from a myriad of sources. I learned a lot about how to teach by watching others, mostly my mentors, who were all “sages on the stage.” I took that teaching philosophy and ran with it, thinking that it was the only way to teach as it was the only thing that I had experienced.

I have taught for many years, but now that I am developing my first hybrid course the pitfall that I need to continually avoid is believing that the only way that my students will learn is by acquiring their knowledge from me (a combination of pitfall #3: “sage on the stage” and pitfall #4: “pouring content into student containers”).  I teach a content heavy course and I feel personally responsible for delivering information to my students, so I developed this belief system that I was the one who responsible for this. I have taught this course as an on-campus course and an Ecampus course, so I have seen both styles. When I first moved the course to Ecampus, I fell into pitfall #4 thinking that I was the one to deliver the knowledge into their “container.” I recently changed my model and gave my students the creative freedom to do open-ended assignments to explore parts of the course that they wanted to learn more in depth and they just amazed me! I spent a whole Sunday reading them and I was completely revitalized and inspired by their enthusiasm, creativity, and passion. It made me completely change my thinking about how I do things. They did not get what they put into those assignments from me…they got it from their own inspiration, creativity, passion, and exploration.

It is very difficult to change. It is very difficult to break free of how we do things because we come to believe that the way we do things is the best way, the only way. I am reading these pitfalls often as I am working on my hybrid development to remind me that I am continually learning how to do this better for my students.

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Letting go of “traditional” assignments

Posted on April 20, 2012 by duncanp

Something I’ve been considering with the development of a hybrid version of my course, “Disney: Gender, Race, Empire,” is letting go of some of the more traditional assignments I’ve often used– for instance, the final essay exam. In the face-to-face version of the course, I’ve relied on this exam as a way for students to demonstrate their overall understanding of key themes and concepts. After writing regular (weekly) critical essays all term, the final is a way for them to synthesize what they’ve learned, and cite many of the readings and films in these longer essays. However, inspired by an idea by a former graduate student who assisted with the course once, I’m in the process of developing a more creative and collaborative way for students to work together–online and in the classroom–to create “learning guides” as projects to apply what they’ve learned. This would move me away from the “sage on the stage” practice that others have already discussed in earlier posts, and would also engage students in different ways, addressing some of the learning objectives for the course (e.g., developing media literacy around issues of gender, race, class, sexuality; learning skills to be able to talk with others, including children viewers, about the power and social meanings of Disney–and other–images; work collaboratively; etc.). I think this is one of the most significant aspects of this hybrid course development process for me… It’s pushing me to rethink all aspects of the course.

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Common Pitfalls

Posted on April 19, 2012 by bourneam

I believe I succumb to two of the common online course pitfalls.  The first pitfall I fell into was #1 which I upload the course material and believed the course would take more care of itself.  I was a part of the course but I assumed the students would be more self-motivated or learn autonomously.  What I found was the students need the same attention and encouragement as traditional “on campus” students.  My thoughts were confirmed after receiving a few terms student evaluations.  I was devastated by the results and comments.  I evaluated the course content, interactions, etc… and re-worked the course (not the content) but my interaction, discussions, and encouraging emails/announcements.  The results were wonderful.  I was very encouraged and realized the need to interact with online students is just the same.  Students are the same regardless of the course delivery.

My second pitfall is #4 – creating content for students to consume rather than create it.  I have fallen to this also – “pouring content into student containers rather than supporting students in making that knowledge their own through practice, experience, and play.”  I think it is important but not sure how to implement.

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Avoiding Pitfalls

Posted on April 17, 2012 by vallsa

Two of the pitfalls in creating an online or hybrid course are sticking to the role, as the instructor, of the “sage on the stage” and not utilizing ways that students can learn from each other.  As I begin to think about how to redesign my traditional face-to-face course into a hybrid course, I can already see some tensions in the way I am thinking about this and going about it.  There are lots of videos available online of ivy-league professors in my discipline providing lectures on topics that I cover in my course.  Yet to limit my use of technology to substitute an in-person lecture by me for a video lecture by someone more famous, I know that I would be missing out on opportunities to foster learning in more creative ways.  Yet, at this point I am unsure about what those ways are.  I know vaguely what a wiki is, and a discussion board, but so far my experience with the latter has been lackluster.  Are there ways to invigorate student-to-student interaction via technology?  I’m dying to know.

The other tension I already see as I undertake this project while trying to avoid pitfalls is that using info technology to deliver some of the course content means that there will be more material that I may have to review or explain further when we do meet face to face.  I am concerned that, while in-class time is another opportunity for students to interact with each other and engage in “active learning,” I may also need to use the precious (because more-limited) time together to walk the students through difficult concepts or arguments.  So while I understand that both presentation of material and interaction (between student and student, and between student and instructor) should take place in both face-to-face and mediated environments, I am not sure how to manage all of the conflicting demands on time to maximize student learning.  I fear that some of the less savvy students will be completely lost without the benefit (and I do hope that it’s a benefit) of my lecturing and teaching.  So, how do I balance all of this as I design my hybrid course?  That’s what I have to figure out…

Posted in Hybrid Course Delivery, Hybrid Course Design, Integrating Online & On-Campus Learning, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Cub Kahn

Welcome Spring Hybrid Faculty Learning Community participants!
I look forward to your contributions, as well as to hearing more from our Winter FLC and guests who drop by to read and comment. Be sure to invite your colleagues to visit this blog.

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Just in time methods for hybrid learning

Posted on February 28, 2012 by strausss

I was interested in the Mazur method of having students answer short questions on the reading just before class, and then have the instructor review them just before class as well.  It would motivate students to read (if graded in some way), and would create an immediate interest/point of dialogue with students.  It might also form a bridge between the online and the in campus session if the questions related to materials the students should have read online the session or week before.  It seems to make quizzes a real teaching instrument and takes advantage of the online to class transitions, which otherwise might be a bit rough/uncomfortable.  The main issue I can see is students complaining they don’t have enough time to do it shortly before class, and the instructor having time to review all of the answers right before class and responding to them.  If the results were automatically collated and graphed in some way and thus could be shown to the class, that would be helpful.  Can blackboard do that (I assume so)?  But how?

– Steve

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Mechanics of Materials – Hybrid

Posted on February 28, 2012 by zaworskj

 

Mechanics of materials, ENGR-213, is about how materials respond when forces are applied.   How much load can the rods holding up the stairs in Owen Hall actually support?   What diameter shaft is needed to transfer power from a 12,000 Hp turbine to the propeller in a large ship?  How big a beam is needed for a bridge rated for a load of 30,000 lb?   The challenge is to have students learn to apply the concepts to any situation, not just problems that are like the examples in the book.

 

Traditionally this class has been pure lecture with homework assigned and evaluation primarily based on  exams.  Because the concepts taught are fairly straightforward, the approach to be used in this hybrid course is to present those concepts using on-line lectures and to use the in-class time to expand the students’ ability to apply those concepts to different situations.

 

An example from the first week might be the concept of axial stress.  After watching the on-line lecture, the students would be assigned to measure the diameter of the rods that support the stairs in Owen Hall.  When they come to class we would then use those rods as the basis for calculating load carrying ability, estimating factor of safety, and by looking at some pictures of how the rods are connected, lead into the next topic – shear stress.   Most of this in-class work would be done in small groups and directed with the help of TA’s.

 

Because experience has shown that very, very few students can master this material without practicing it, homework will be assigned from the text and additional homework exercises drawn from real examples in the local area will be provided during the in-class time.  Assessment will be based on homework and exams.

 

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taking intro to public health hybrid

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Viktor Bovbjerg

H100 is Introduction to Public Health in our college.  Traditionally, it was taught to undergraduates in our two public health degree programs.  A couple of years ago, it became required for them, raising the census to about 200 in the classroom.  With accreditation of our college in public health, however, all undergrads in our college will be taking H100, regardless of major.  Two effects with major implications: 1) this is now 900 students/year, so we will be going to multiple sections/terms, and 2) at least half the students in any given term will not be public health majors, so content will have to go beyond “traditional” public health topics to keep students engaged (while maintaining a public health approach).   The majors in our college are diverse, including public health, exercise science, nutrition–you get the idea.

So, we have thought that one way to try to manage the balance between material that crosses all majors (the fundamentals of a public health approach) and material that could be made major-specific (cases, discussions, homework) would be for the in-person sessions to focus on the former, and the online portion focus on the latter.  The in-person sessions would take advantage of the strengths of that setting to create common ground, while the online sessions would make the material relevant to the specific interests of students.

So, one in person session might focus on social and behavioral determinants of health in general, and how public health approaches the intersection of behavior, social norms, and environment.  Following that class, students would have parallel work to do online, but it would be major-specific.  For instance, a case and associated homework or discussion might be modified for specific topic/major areas.  For example, the public health majors might have a case focused on needle sharing, while the exercise science majors have a case centered on physical activity in schools, and the nutrition-oriented folks a case on menu labeling and menu choices.  Same competencies and concepts, different application.

A major challenge, and therefore opportunity, is to develop the online content.  Because the content areas are fairly different, I will need to consult extensively with content experts–even though my own work involves diet and physical activity, for instance, I do not consider myself expert in either topic.

This seems like a relatively straightforward way to break up the content, yet keep the in-person and online stuff connected.

 

 

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Biotechnology hybrid course development: focus on content

Posted on February 27, 2012 by viningk

Our hybrid course development group consists of two primary instructors (Steve and Dave) and two “content providers” (myself and Michael). Our four-person subgroup tends to meet after the larger hybrid course group meeting. As a first stab at gathering current, relevant online content, Michael and I were given free rein to browse and to nominate various content that fit under headings in a previous ecampus course syllabus. At our last subgroup meeting, we presented our ideas. What we had all previously known – that the listed topics were already to numerous to cover in one term – became even more apparent as we talked about various topics on the list. After the meeting, Steve and Dave worked to streamline the topics list and produce a revised syllabus. With this list, and with the directive to include selected content from the ecampus course reading list, Michael and I are now armed to begin building the Blackboard framework for the course. I had to ask myself whether the initial content-gathering effort was worthwhile, as it is unclear to me at this point whether any of that content will be used. I concluded that the exercise of gathering content and presenting it to the instructors served a different purpose: it gave the instructors space to re-familiarize themselves with the topics list and to rethink the topics and their order of presentation. It’s a good thing that we have an archive of content from which to draw, and proper placement of any new content will now be more clear with the revised syllabus. The content-gathering effort also inspired me to think of a different type of biotechnology/philosophy ecampus course that I think would be fun to develop.

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