Online

Scores Got Worse! Learning Improved!

Submitted by Cheri Hebert on

The Communication Abilities Rubric assesses areas of physical and vocal delivery.  Instructors and students have not fully understood the categories in the rubric. As an innovative approach, my Com230H section did a media project breaking down each element of the rubric into video. I allowed for flexibility with strict guidelines to ensure all disciplines and communication research was covered. Next, 18 students assessed themselves 3x for 3 group presentations.

Assessing the Effectiveness of the Student Success Module

Submitted by Erik Huntsinger on

In both my ECN211 and ECN212 courses, I include a learner outcome related to student success habits (along with course-specific outcomes).  Each week, I post a discussion assignment related to brain-based learning techniques (e.g., practicing recall, spacing learning over time), wellness behavior (sleeping, nutrition, exercise), and metacognitive skills (mindfulness, metacognition).  To assess the impact of this module on student learning, I will provide an open-ended assessment question where students will report what was particularly impactful for them that semester.

Physics Explanations and Relevance

Submitted by Angela McClure on

I have used the textbook for reviewing physics content.  In the fall spring of 2015, I allowed students an option of doing small at home labs/demos, video themselves doing the activity and explaining the physics behind it.  I found that the students who did these activities liked them and demonstated a deeper understanding of the material. In the fall of 2016, I decided to expand this idea and make the assignment a larger requirement of the overal grade. I also provided more opportunities to do these type of small projects.

MAT151 Online Orientation

Submitted by Andrew Burch on

In Spring 2017, I will be implementing an updated orientation process for students to learn the MathAS system (the LMS we use in Math) and get oriented in the course including:  navigating in MathAS, syllabus, netiquette, time management, and learning styles.  This is all done in MathAS rather than Canvas.  I will track the number of students that are withdrawn from the course for not completing the orientation and compare that to previous semesters in other online courses.  I will also track the success of the students in the course (end course grade) compared to comple

Authentic Assessment in Health Care Spanish

Submitted by Trino Sandoval on

For the on-line (SPA 117) course, students are required to submit a video recording of a role-playing situation for each of the course modules.  In the video recording students use the target language in order to complete meaningful tasks they will counter in the real world as health care professionals.  These task based role playing activities will assess verbal and nonverbal communication skills, mostly the students’ grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and speaking capacities learned in each module.

Use of virtual flash cards to study a foreign language (Quizlet)

Submitted by Anna Chabrowski on

Quizlet is a free online tool for students, teachers, and learners of all ages that can be used in a classroom or on your own. It helps create virtual flash cards to study vocabulary and phrases of a language of choice. GER101 and 102 incorporated several sets of flash cards through Quizlet to help students learn new vocabulary. Each set offers several different sudy mode types: from spelling, matching, learning and testing to interactive games.

Using a Single-Point Rubric Online

Submitted by Kelly Loucy on

In fall 2017, I piloted the use of single-point rubrics for certain assignements in my online ENH 245 class. Typically, a single-point rubric provides the criteria for proficiency,  and then allows for feedback for how a student exceeded or failed to achieve proficiency in given areas, the goal being that the "undefined advanced column" places no limits on how students might stretch themselves" (Gonzalez, 2014).

Formative Assessment: Video vs. Written Reflection Effectiveness

Submitted by Rodney Ruiz on

As effective teachers, we must recognize that students are gifted with a variety of intelligences.  In fact, Dr. Howard Gardner has identified eight distinct intelligences.  Unfortunately, all too often we structure our formal assessments to allow for students to utilize very few of these intelligences in assessing student learning.  The following experiment will allow for the comparison of multiple forms of intelligence in formative assessment. 

Student Guides do it again!

Submitted by Peter Turner on

In our Introduction to Education course, one of our major topics is ethical behavior by teachers. Materials covered include some reading materials on ethical behavior, the National Education Association teacher ethics, and a voice-over Ppt covering the topic. The follow up assessment is a series of situations, all of which have occurred in local K-12 education settings, to which the students must describe the correct ethical pathway to take. Scores on this assignment averaged at 77%. This was disappointing, especially considering the serious nature of the topic.

What's Next? - SLP 214

Submitted by Jeffrey Meeks on

The SLPA program is somewhat unique given we are teaching clinical courses in an online format.  It can be difficult to demonstrate disorders and treatment without hands-on learning opportunities.  In order to address the need for examples of disorders and interventions to students, we have included a variety of videos and recorded lectures.  One of the speech sounds I cover in my SLP 214 course is the /r/.  The /r/ sound is one of the most common speech errors children see speech therapists for.

Peer Instructions to Check for Understanding

Submitted by Catherine Cochran on

The problem:  Some students have been misinterpreting my instructions for class assignments with multiple steps.  With two multiple stepped assignments, on average 6 out of 31 students missed a concept. 

The process:  Peer groups consisted of 4 students.  After groups were given instructions for the assignment, peers repeated the instructions to their group. Afterwards, each group (8 tables) had to summarize and rewrite the instructions on a mini white board. 

Spicing Up the Curriculum with Innovative, Technology-Driven Assessments

Submitted by Rachel Holmes on

All too often, online courses require essay after essay and quiz after quiz. This CATS spices up the curriculum by including a variety of innovative, technology-driven assignments that are sure to engage students while also providing solid checks for content mastery. Student created videos, interactive discussions using video media, PowerPoints, Prezys, STAR quality magazine tutorials, visually-appealing brochures, and more are included as alternative assessments that are sure to spice up the class and the content!

Planning for Success

Submitted by Jamie Lopez on

While attending the League for Innovation Learning Summit, I was struck by a keynote address by Rachel Fulcher-Dawson of Notre Dame & Corinne Weaver of Catholic Charities in Fort Worth, Texas. They shared the results of a partnership entitled "Stay the Course" in Fort Worth at Tarrant County Community College. The program is a planned intervention for low-income students. In structuring the study four main reasons for student drop-out were: