In the last 5 years the chemistry program has made a switch to a fully active learning pedagogy. While we are finding this to be a huge success for the students, it is causing some problems for our instructors. Since this is a novel approach for teaching chemistry classes, most content qualified instructors are not familiar with how to present curriculum in this way.
In my 16 week RDG 091 course, prior to the first group presentation, I spend one or two classes teaching students the oral and format expectations of an oral PowerPoint presentation. In Fall, 2013, I taught an 8 week version of the RDG 091 course and found that there was limited time to extensively teach these skills prior to their first oral presentation. I provided them the rubric ahead of time and covered the information as best I could with the time I had. However, I was very disappointed in the results.
Using Canvas Discussions is a good way to use higher order thinking skills and improve communication as our students justify their answers and question others. In Fall 2013, all three of my hybrid classes had weekly discussions that enriched our content. However, the quality of the discussions was somewhat lacking. Mid semester, I instituted rubrics to help guide and measure their posts. For a 15 point discussion, the rubrics were as follows:
To assess students understanding of major theories and content elements I have students present concepts with teammates, or Iearning teams . Students work with a team of 3 to 4 students and present once a week on a topic covered in the chapter we are discussing for that week.
I find that it keeps students connected, helps them manage nervousness they may experience when speaking in front of large groups. They have to check audience understanding by creating a way to involve all classmates.
In Fall 2013, I piloted a video reflection assignment in the Sociology courses.
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.
In Spring 2013 I taught a 5-week MAT142 class as the second half of a linked MAT121-MAT142. In order to alleviate some of the students’ math anxiety associated with exams and to demonstrate practical applications, I switched from exam-based assessments to project-based assessments with promising results.
I ran MAT142 Online in F13, which is the first time our division has run an online course Of the 31 who started the class, 20 will pass (with 1 depending on the final project score). We had 5 written projects, and at the end of each project, I asked students to do a grade check which required them to give feedback on their progress and the course as a whole. There were 3 common themes that I saw from the responses:
1) Students felt projects did not reflect the learning they'd done in notes and homework.
Since Fall 2003, a textbook was used in MAT220 (caculus I). For the last 4 years, handouts were created to supplement the textbook. This semester, students use only a workbook that I created. The purpose of this assessment is to document my observations in the level of engagement of students from using textbook only, slowly incorporating worksheets, to full implementation of a workbook. Most math textbooks are not designed to engage students, thus it was difficult to do so.
One learning objective for Com 100 is to have students explain the essential elements of communication using representative communication models. In a F2F setting this can be demonstrated easily by putting the essential elements of a model on the whiteboard and having students stand by the elements such as the “sender” and “receiver” element. They next model the elements in an interactive process. This semester, I assigned students the same assignment, to diagram a recent conversation they had using a model of communication.
In my Intro to Human Com classes, students respond well to the "small-talks" that I assign throughout the course. These talks are 1-2 minute informal speeches that students deliver in front of the class. Explaining their personality test results, reporting on their cultural visits, and relating active listening scenarios are a few examples of the small-talk assignments.
The first project in my EDU classes each semester is a student investigation into a hot topic in the education field. Students must submit a Ppt and then present on the topic, using the Ppt as their audio-visual aide. Their grade is a combination of assessing their presentation and their hard-copy Ppts. To grade their hard copies, I use a Ppt Rubric (see attachmed). Historically the lowest score on the rubric has been "References" where they must accurately cite at least two credible references. The average score on this has been 2.0 out of 5 points.
After viewing a powerpoint on scale as a design principle, and an in class discussion students are asked to create collages that explore the relationship between scale and meaning. The resulting collages should be representational but illustrate a world in which the normal relationships between things have been altered through changes in scale. The resulting collages are often whimsical, but capable of illustrating a more sophisticated understanding of the way we use scale daily to navigate the world, create systems of order, and define self.
I made my course a hybrid like course, where students could learn online as well as in the class w some assignments. Here is a sample from a project given. Not your usual PED course.