Best Practices RamCT

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Best Practices RamCT

• Spring 2007

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Seven Good Teaching Principles

• (Chickering and Gamson)
• Encourage student-faculty contact.
• Encourage cooperation among students.
• Encourage active learning.
• Give prompt feedback.
• Emphasize time on task.
• Communicate high expectations.
• Respect diverse talents ways of learning.

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Best Practices inWeb-based Teaching

• (Conrad, Verneil Berge, Miller Miller,
  Palloff Pratt)
• Structure content so that it is easy to follow.
• State expectations of students the course
  clearly and early.
• Provide regular feedback guidance.
• Provide opportunity for students to give feedback
  on learning course progress.
• Strive for participation by all students.
• Promote collaborative learning.

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Best Practices

• Structure content so it is easy to follow.
• Course Layout
• Structure and Navigation

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Plan Course Layout

• Create a storyboard of your course - draw it on
  paper or use sticky notes
• Break course content into major topics
• List subsets of each major topic
• Identify resources and learning activities that
  help students meet the course objectives
• ? TIP ? Think in short segments or modules,
  changing the learning activity to keep students
  engaged with the materials.

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Plan Course Layout

• Determine logical sequence for materials
• Use constructive learning - students build on
  what they already know

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Plan Course Layout

• Determine navigation - what should connect to
  what
• Fully online course with a lot of flexibility?
• Hybrid course with need to control student access
  to content?

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Navigation and StructureWang and Gearhart

• Two common structures
• Linear or sequential
• Hierarchical
• RamCT provides framework to help prevent
  students from getting lost.

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Navigation and StructureWang and Gearhart

• Linear or sequential
• very controlled, step-by-step path
• procedural
• content is based on mastery of preceding
  materials

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Navigation and StructureWang and Gearhart

• Hierarchical
• top-down learning path
• starts with general knowledge that leads to more
  concrete, specific information

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Navigation and Structure

• ? TIP ? Use Selective Release based on dates
  or mastery of materials to control student access
  to new content.
• ? TIP ? Make use of Learning Modules available
  in RamCT to create sequence of materials.

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Plan Course Layout

• Consider alternative ways to present materials
  besides text
• Locate or create and include
• Visuals
• Audio
• Hands-on activities

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Plan Course Layout

• Create a storyboard of your course - draw it on
  paper or use sticky notes
• Determine a logical sequence for materials,
  building on earlier content
• Determine navigation - what connects to what
• Consider alternative ways to present materials

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Questions Suggestions

• Structure content so it is easy to follow.

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Best Practices

• State expectations of students and the course
  clearly and early.
• Communicate high expectations.
• Syllabus

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Syllabus

• Course (section) title, section number, semester,
  number of credits, and any prerequisites
• Instructor contact information
• E-mail, phone
• Office hours chat
• RamCT technical information and assistance
• Online www.help.RamCT.colostate.edu
• Phone CTSS Help Desk 970-491-7276
• E-mail RamCTStudent_at_colostate.edu

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Syllabus

• Course description
• Specific information on what will be covered
• why it is worthwhile to study
• why students might be interested and how it
  relates to their discipline of study or their
  lives
• Explanation of how the course is structured
• i.e. 15 modules over 15 weeks
• Explanation of how the course will be delivered
• i.e. discussion, chat, group projects,
  audio/video files

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Syllabus

• Course goals and objectives
• Goals state what we wish students to attain by
  taking the course
• Objectives are the measurable outcomes achieved
  during the course

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Syllabus

• Course requirements and expectations
• Materials, such as textbook or special software
• Explanation of what can be expected
• i.e. how much time the student can expect to
  spend on the course
• i.e. how quickly the student can expect to hear
  back from the instructor

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Syllabus

• Course schedule
• Date or week of given topic
• Deadlines for assignments
• Quizzes and exams

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Syllabus

• Policies
• Academic integrity
• Late assignments
• Student conduct within discussions
• Appropriateness of comments
• Being respectful of diversity of other students

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Syllabus

• Grading
• Instructor philosophy
• Standards and criteria for assignments and
  quizzes
• Grading scale

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Syllabus

• Course (section) title, section number, semester,
  credits, and prerequisites
• Instructor contact information
• RamCT technical information and assistance
• Course description
• Course goals and objectives
• Course requirements and expectations
• Course schedule
• Policies
• Grading

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Questions Suggestions

• State expectations of students and the course
  clearly and early.
• Communicate high expectations.

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Best Practices

• Encourage student-faculty contact.
• Provide regular feedback and guidance
  to students.
• Give prompt feedback.
• Communication Tools
• Assessments

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Benefits of Regular Contact Prompt Feedback

• helps learner overcome feelings of isolation
• increases learner motivation
• helps learner adjust or reconstruct thoughts
  along learning path
• helps avoid or solve possible conflicts
• leads to mastery of skills more quickly

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Communication Tools

• Announcements
• Calendar
• Whos Online (instant messaging)
• Chatroom and/or Whiteboard
• E-mail
• Discussion - threaded, blogs, journals

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Announcements

• At beginning of course
• send welcome message
• gains attention of students eager for
  communication
• establishes tone for course - set high
  expectations
• encourage all students to actively participate
• builds positive learning community
• encourage students to read syllabus
• emphasize time on task

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Announcements

• At end of each module or topic
• provide summary/wrap-up of previous content
• facilitate smooth transition - introduce next
  module or topic
• remind students of due dates and other
  requirements - emphasize time on task

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Announcements

• Each time grades are posted
• inform entire class - avoid receiving individual
  e-mails asking when?

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Calendar

• allows reminders at a glance that encourage time
  on task
• assignment due dates
• test dates
• office hours
• provides another opportunity to state clear
  expectations

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Whos Online(instant messaging)

• enables synchronous interaction between students
  instructor, creating strong learning community
  sense of belonging
• promotes peer-to-peer learning and mentoring

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Chatroom Whiteboard

• synchronous - very effective for providing prompt
  feedback
• group projects conducted in chatroom encourage
  collaboration
• promotes active learning
• Whiteboard accommodates
  alternative learning styles

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Private E-mail

• effective means of reaching out and
  re-directing disengaged student
• personal contact encourages students
• promotes interpersonal relationships between
  class members

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E-mail

• Messages can easily be misinterpreted
• be careful with sarcasm and humor
• add images, such as smiley faces to communicate
  tone
• add words to clarify your attempt at humor
  i.e. ha ha, lol
• dont use all upper case - it reads as though you
  are SHOUTING

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E-mail

• ? TIP ?
• E-mail can be time consuming
• turn anticipated questions into FAQs.

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Assessments

• Include short topic-specific quizzes
• students can assess their understanding of
  materials
• provides feedback to instructor on how well
  content is presented

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Questions Suggestions

• Encourage student-faculty contact.
• Provide regular feedback and guidance
  to students.
• Give prompt feedback.

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Best Practices

• Encourage cooperation among students.
• Promote collaborative learning.
• Discussions
• Groups

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Benefits of Collaborative Learning(Vygotsky)

• learners capable of performing at higher
  intellectual levels when working with peers
• newly gained competence is applied to individual
  work
• students learn to value teamwork
• environment provides realistic, motivating,
  socially enriched learning contexts

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Collaborative Learning

• Instructors role
• guide students in productive learning
• monitor and make sure no one is left out
• provide effective questioning and meaningful
  activities to engage learners

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Discussion

• enables participation by all students
• provokes learners to re-evaluate ideas by hearing
  ideas of peers
• helps learners focus on topic through threads -
  promotes time on task
• encourages higher level of thinking - time to
  reflect

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Discussion

• At beginning of course
• post self-introduction (model desired behavior)
• encourage class-wide introductions
• post ice breaker question
• begins to build community
• identifies students with technical problems or
  inexperience using course tools
• communicate clear deadlines for topic responses
• state expectations for length of response messages

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Discussion

• During course
• create groups to make management easier
• post thought-provoking questions, then act as
  facilitator
• review discussions without controlling them
• post feedback on a regular schedule that has been
  communicated to class
• intervene only when discussion is struggling or
  going in wrong direction
• prompt non-participating student with private
  e-mail

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Discussion

• At end of each topic
• summarize important points
• provide closure

? TIP ? In RamCT, lock responses so they are
read only after deadline has passed.
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Groups

• form groups with both diversity and some common
  core of experience knowledge between members
• keep groups small if possible (4-6)
• designate team leader or coordinator
• assign specific roles/responsibilities to team
  members
• have students critique team project and their own
  individual contribution
• provide rubric for grading purposes

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Questions Suggestions

• Encourage cooperation among students.
• Promote collaborative learning.

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Best Practices

• Strive for participation by all students.
• Respect diverse talents
  ways of learning.
• Discussions
• Alternative delivery of content

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Discussions

• Enable students who do not participate in large,
  traditional classroom to be active member of
  class
• Provide a means of participation for students who
  need more time to reflect before responding

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Food for ThoughtMoe Blodgett

• Only 5 of knowledge is retained with
  lecture-style instruction
• Retention rates increase with
• Audiovisual presentation
• Demonstration
• Learning by doing
• Retention highest when students teach others what
  they have learned

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• Visual Auditory Kinesthetic

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• What kind of learner are you?
• http//www.ulc.arizona.edu/learn_styl_ass.html
• http//www.agelesslearner.com/assess/learningstyle
  .html

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• Engage students through
• Static visuals, video, animations, screen capture
• Audio
• Hands-on activities

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• Static Visuals
• Illustrations
• Diagrams
• Photographs
• Schematics
• Equations
• Maps
• Graphs
• Provide text summary of visuals to ensure
  accessibility by all students

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• Video
• Intro of course by instructor add human,
  personal touch
• Interview of or speech by a topic expert
• Demonstration of a difficult process
• Role modeling a behavior
• Virtual field trip
• Scene that conveys emotion
• Provide transcript or text summary to ensure
  accessibility by all students

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• Animations and Screen Capture
• Demonstration of a difficult process
• Solving an equation or other problem
• Role modeling correct steps of a procedure
• Provide transcript or text summary to ensure
  accessibility by all students

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• Audio files
• Explanation of a process or difficult problem
  when expression through voice can help clarify
• Interviews and speeches
• Segments of lectures
• Study of music and language
• Provide transcript or text summary to ensure
  accessibility by all students

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• Hands-on activities
• Simulations and virtual reality tours
• Assignments
• interview someone
• make something
• visit a location
• Activities
• practice skills
• complete tasks

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Embracing Alternative Learning Styles

• Universal Design
• Design of products and environments to be
  usable by all people, to the greatest extent
  possible, without the need for adaptation or
  specialized design.
• http//www.accessproject.colostate.edu/
• http//accessibility.colostate.edu/
• http//accessibility.colostate.edu/508/index.html

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Questions Suggestions

• Strive for participation by all students.
• Respect diverse talents ways of
  learning.

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Best Practices

• Provide opportunity for students to give
  feedback on learning course progress.
• Virtual Office Hours Chatroom
• Questionnaires

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Life Cycle of A Course
Analyze
Evaluate
Design
Implement
Develop
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Questions Suggestions

• Best Practices

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Send feedback to

• Sally Hibbitt
• shibbitt_at_ctss.colostate.edu
• Thank You for attending
• and Good Luck!