I'm very sold on the idea of using OERs (Open Educational Resources) -- they save students money, and they allow all students to have immediate access to course materials. The downside is that some students seem less engaged with these types of course materials; I think this is because they have been conditioned to the ideas of a textbook.
A key to fully appreciate art is understanding the creative journey and the underlying creative critical thinking which leads to the “message and meaning” of the piece.
Honors students are given the option of completing an individual or small group creative project to fulfill their honors enrichment plan.
In ENH 254: Film and Literature, I used a new assignment in which students needed to video tape themselves explaining their project. This new component will also be evaluated in a separate CATS. Many of the students commented, either in emails leading up to the assignment's submission, or in the video itself, that they were nervous and uncomfortable with being on videotape. As a result, I decided to use the CANVAS video comment tool to tape myself responding to each student.
I have finished creating an online version of ENH235 -- Gothic Literature. Since I developed the course using OERs (Open Educational Resources), most of the course material involves older works, which can be used without copyright restrictions. This works out well for the course since most of the course competencies relate to these older works. However, the students need to be able to apply what they have learned about the historical development of gothic literature to a modern work.
I developed ENH114 (African-American Literature) as an online course that uses primarily OERs (Open Education Resources, which are free, online resources that can be used and shared.) I am interested in finding out how this approach works for students -- on the plus side, it will save them money and insure that they have access to course materials when they need them. However, I want to see how the use of OERs seems to be going -- how effective this approach is, and whether there are any issues.
Although students do a lot of small group work (and participate in class discussions), they often don’t know each other’s names – sometimes not even those of their own groups. At the end of the semester, students still ask me who “so and so” is so they can return peer reviewed papers.
My courses require online grade checks in week 3, 6, 9 and 12; however, low scoring students were not taking significant action to change their study habits. So I implemented in-class metacognitive/reflective activities the day after the grade checks where due (see attached document).
Final grade comparison:
JRN 201, Spring 2014, 8 completing students:
4 As, 1 B, 3 Cs, 0 failing students
Compared to
JRN 201, Fall 2013, 7 completing students:
1 A, 2 Bs, 2 Cs, 1 D, 1 F
There are many ways to assess student learning. Traditionally, I create my own tests however, for one assessment in an English 101, I decided to try something different. As an assignment on Essay writing key terms, the students constructed their own test and an answer sheet. Of course, I did not relinquish the reins entirely to the student.
After a student plagiarized a“how to paraphrase” assignment, I was dismayed with student correspondence that I received due its tone and the student’s continued misunderstanding of why it was plagiarism. Because students often avoid paraphrasing, and instead choose to repeatedly use direct quotations, I created a student-instructor role play assignment for ENG 102. See attached assignment for details.
As a way of studying design principles related to composition I have my students complete an exercise that evaluates the compositional strategy employed in a great work of painting from art history. The students create two diagrams that chart the way the artist uses design principles like scale, line, color, rhythm, unity, emphasis and balance to control the way the eye moves, additionally they map they way the artist uses value (light and dark) to create emphasis and illusions of depth.
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.
Dance can be very deceptive; how a movement feels or looks in a mirror rarely provides a clear indication of what is happening in the body. To help students acquire an accurate perception and develop a self-directed process for improving their dance training, I combine a Goals and Assessment Sheet with videotaping at the Midterm and Final. In the Fall of 2013, when it was clear that students didn’t understand how to choose a movement assessment, I added descriptive language and included examples on the Goals and Assessment Sheet for Spring of 2014.
Using unobtrusive and obtrusive assessment throughout linked ENG101/102 courses, I hope to learn whether an emphasis on learning about types of writing (analysis, cause and effect, etc.) in the ENG101 course will carry over to help students as they work on more complex papers in ENG102.
Typically, students who are enrolled in developmental English classes (ENG 081, 091) bring with them a host of issues that may inhibit academic success, namely the lack of preparedness for academic/college-level writing. What often appears as a more direct issue is a need for college-going behaviors and skills that will ensure their success in college. I've been fortunate to have had student peer mentors from the EMCC Peer Mentor Program in my ENG 081 classes for the past three years. In Spring 2014, a peer mentor was assigned to one of my two ENG 091 classes. While
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.