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March 21, 2006
Greetings from Innovations: Day 3
The sun is finally shining in Atlanta. I had an opportunity to attend a number of sessions today, including:
* What is an A? Training Adjunct Faculty Using Grading Rubrics
* Keynote panel moderated by Mason Bishop, Department of Labor
* Ten Ways to Improve Your Online Course
* Teaching Practices That Work in the Online Classroom
Read on to hear about these sessions.
I attended an interesting session today, titled “What is an A? Training Adjunct Faculty Using Grading Rubrics” by Dr. Terry Boyd of Franklin University.”
He explained the process that they use to develop classes and discussed how grade inflation had occurred at their university due to the subjective nature of their grading system and the link between how student’s grades affected their attitudes on their evaluations which were linked to faculty incentive programs.
The result was standardized classes that are created and updated every 2 years by a team consisting of a course developer a course designer and a content expert. The courses include a manual for the faculty member and the students. Strict criteria have been created so that grading across the board is consistent and fair.
There were a few things in this presentation that struck me - First - the course development process and the investment that they have made in continuous improvement of their courses. Second – they have reclaimed the full meaning of an A – which should be earned for exemplary achievement in an assignment or a course.
The result of this initiative has been reduced confrontation because students and faculty understand the rubric and the criteria that must be met and when discussing grades, the faculty speak to the rubric – students now understand that the discussion is about their performance and not about them personally. Second, they have had a reduction in the number of A’s and C’s earned and an increase in the number of B’s earned.
I have been planning to implement more decisive rubrics in my program and I believe this presentation has provided me with the data that I need to convince my faculty and adjunct faculty with why it is important to do so.
Mason Bishop, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Labor moderated the General Session. A group of four college Presidents/Chancellors: Dr. Gary Green from Forsythe Technical College, Dr. Martha Smith, Anne Arundel Community College, Dr. Jesus Carreon, Dallas County Community College and Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton, Cuyahoga Community College. They discussed the successes, obstacles, challenges and the future of workforce development programs. This session will be available soon via iStream.
I attended a roundtable session, titled “Ten Ways to Improve Your Online Course.” Although the room was crowded and it was very difficult to hear, Mary Hall, Associate Professor of Mathematics at Georgia Perimeter College provided us with some great ways to improve our courses.
Her first tip dealt with structure. Each course should include communication, information and evaluation.
Her second dealt with course design, and to sum it up simple and consistent is key. She encouraged us to use default text size and font face, to use bold and color to highlight important points, to use standard link colors and not use distracting backgrounds and color schemes.
Her third dealt with offering a diverse approach to learning. Offer videos and audio when you can and use resources that accompany your text.
The fourth tip was to use announcements and to post regularly.
Fifth, she encouraged us to use discussion questions. Start out with questions that are easy to respond to so that students become comfortable with the format and then ask more challenging discussion questions. Include a FAQ area and when you receive 2 or more of the same question add it to this area.
My favorite new tip was the sixth one, provide an information sheet/survey for students to fill out and provide their personal info – phone, address, email, etc. Also include and disclaimers and have the student agree to them. Some of the disclaimers were standard but I really liked the following:
• I understand that this class may take 9 or more hours per week
• I understand that I am responsible for having the necessary computer skills to participate in this course
Seventh was to encourage study groups as many students learn in a group environment and to give group assignments.
For the eighth item, she discussed response time. Students need fast, efficient feedback and need consistency and to know boundaries.
Ninth, grade assessments and provide students with an opportunity to relearn information that they did not get the first time.
Finally it is important to monitor your class weekly and contact students who are not participating to retain the students in your class.
Ms. Hall’s presentation can be found at http://www.gpc.edu/~mhall/wkshop/TenImprove.htm
The next presentation that I attended was “Teaching Practices That Work in the Online Classroom” by Lori Kupczynski from South Texas College.
She did an incredible study on the use of student centered learning practices and how they impact teaching methodology, instructor clarity, instructor accessibility and instructor feedback. She steeped her presentation in the theory of andragogy, positivist and constuctivist thought. The result of her study indicated that their was a significant benefit from using a student centered approach as it impacts student grades and student attitudes. She then had the standing-room only group break out into groups and share what practices they are doing in terms of teaching methodology, instructor clarity, instructor accessibility, and instructor feedback.
A detailed presentation of her study is available and here is a copy of the brainstorming that we did in the session.
Posted by lyoung at March 21, 2006 01:09 PM in category
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