Online

I have been teaching PSY of Gender (PSY 235) online for many years and typically receive excellent reviews for the class from students. This (Spring 15) semester, I am offering Introduction to Women's Studies (WST 100) online for the first time. While developing the class I was uncertain of several particularly difficult content elements because of the level of the course and my assumption that many of my students come from disciplines far more diverse than the the social science backgrounds of my PSY 235 students.

In Fall 2014 I started several CATS and collected 3 data sets for the analyses. Upon return from break I found that 2:3 datasets were erased irretrievably from the server, making analysis impossible. I do however, still have one data set looking at a variety of success and satisfaction factors in a 16- week PSY 101. I want to use the data painstakingly collected, so I included the same assessment instrument in my 16- week 101 this semester with the intention to compare satisfaction and success between Fall & Spring students.

The purpose of this CATS is to determine if the integration of  two new technology applications into online Early Childhood courses will positively affect student achievement in online EED courses.  Beginning in the Fall of 2014, EMCC will offer an approved AA in Early Childhood so a number of new classes will be rolled out progressively over the next few years.    We currently offer EED215 in the Early Childhood pathway, and as of Fall 2015 EED212 will be added.

Discussions are a prime way to enrich online and hybrid classes as well as engage students. In my spring 2014 classes, many of my students waited until the last 24 hours to post their initial answer to the Discussion prompt. This procrastination averaged 75% of the students. Since I require of my students a three response minimum to other students’ posts, there was often not enough time for meaningful exchanges. Despite my urgings, this procrastination continued.

After learning some foundation of American Sign Language, students are expected to sign a short story.  On my video, I signed about three places I have gone to in the past, whom I went to, and what we did at these places.  Then I asked students to tell me the three places they have gone to, with whom, and what did they do.  There is no caption or translation on the video, and students are expected to understand what I am signing about.

The XML Application Development Course attracts students seeking the Web Development CCL. Beyond learning XML fundamentals, students will be challenged to participate in the development of a real-world XML client server application. To accomplish this, students will be required to login to a virtual environment provided by NetLab+. Upon doing so they will be presented with labs that not only require them to showcase their understanding of XML, but also provide an exploration into Client Server TCP/IP Socket interaction and the Linux operating system.

Sociology Through Film was piloted in Spring 2015 and then taught again in Spring 2016. Each week there are three assignments to sociologically analyze a film (see attached sample). The last assignment during finals week is to sociologically analyze a Disney children's movie by focusing on the 16 weeks of sociological analysis of film. This last assignment assesses whether the students understand the social issues, in addition to applying them to social change.

A considerable amount of time is spent each semester by professors changing design and temporal elements of online courses to improve student satisfaction and performance (or is it just me?) In order to quantify what, if any difference these changes make to student outcomes, I am going to compare two versions of my PSY 101 online in Fall 2014.  The content and requirements of the two courses is exactly the same.

EMCC has expanded our course offerings to include courses completed in 5-, 8-, 10-, and 16- week timeframes. Does the length of time a class runs affect student satisfaction, performance outcomes, or both?  Relatedly, do students perceive their satisfaction or performance to be related to course length? With all other variables constant, does the length matter at all?

Based on research in student success, the Adjunct Faculty (AF) Professional Learning Community (PLC) recommended a program in 2010 “to engage/retain the college’s best adjunct faculty, explore and deepen Learning College best practices within the classroom”. Portions of their recommendations were implemented through AF training workshops.

In the online ENG 081 Basic Writing Skills, students participate in peer review.  However, in my first attempt, I found that students purposely skipped the assignment, even stating that they were skipping because they were "too nervous," or "didn't trust what their classmates would say and just wanted my feedback instead." In Spring 2014, my goal was to increase participation and to help students to have a positive experience. I added two discussion board posts.

This assignment is for the online version of STO/HUM292 that has not been launched yet.

This is a performance-based class, so students are required to perform a story for their final exam. Students will record themsevles and then upload for grading. There is a set rubric students are to follow in order to demonstrate effective storytelling techniques and best practices. 

This assignment is for the online version of HUM108 that has not been launched yet. 

After learning about murals, the students are to demonstrate what they learned by creating their own mural. The mural must mimic the murals we learned about in the unit; it should be aesthetically pleasing, colorful, crowded and have a political, religious and/or personal message to impart. This assignment will allow students to demonstrate and solidify what they have learned by doing a kinesthetic and personally meaningful activity. 

CIS263AA is an advanced Java programming class. It includes a review of concepts from the prerequisite course, covers many topics in much more depth, and introduces advanced topics. In lieu of a final exam, I wanted students to apply the program development process and create a substantial application. Since this is also the final course in the sequence, I wanted to squeeze in as much content as possible, especially in areas that apply to a student's major or interests--security, networking, simulation/modeling, business, etc.