InternshipPh'D' Opportunity PLA: Participatory Learning Approach

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Internship/Ph.D. OpportunityPLA Participatory
Learning Approach

• Michael Bieber
• Jia Shen, Dezhi Wu, Roxanne Hiltz
• Information Systems Department
• College of Computing Sciences
• New Jersey Institute of Technology
• http//web.njit.edu/bieber - http//is.njit.edu/p
  la/
• September 2004

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Motivation

• To increase learning of course content
• Learning through active engagement
• involve students as active participants
• with the full problem life-cycle
• through peer evaluation
• Minimize overhead for instructors

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PLA Process(e.g.,Participatory Exam)

• Each student creates 2 exam problems
• Instructor edits the problems if necessary
• Each student solves 2 problems
• Students evaluate (grade) the solutions to the
  problems they authored, writing detailed
  justifications
• Ph.D. students evaluate each problem a second
  time
• Instructor gives a final grade
• optional Students can dispute their solutions
  grade, by evaluating it themselves and writing
  detailed justifications
• Instructor resolves the dispute

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Instructor Control Process
Student Learning Process
Course Design
Process Flow Learning from doing the PLA
activities
Make up problems
Set up on-line environment
Read- other problems - other solutions - grade
justifications - disputes
additional learning from reading everything peers
write
Solve problems
Exam Process Control Assign ID Edit
questions Assign who answers questions Assign
level-2 graders
Level-1 and Level-2 graders grade solutions
Determine Final Grades
Dispute final grade
Resolve Disputes
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Instructor Control Process
Student Learning Process
Confirmation ID, understand process
Course Design
Make up problems
Set up on-line environment
Read- other problems - other solutions - grade
justifications - disputes
Solveproblems
Exam Process Control Assign ID Edit
problems Assign who solves problems Assign
level-2 graders
Level-1 and Level-2 graders grade solutions
Determine Final Grades
Dispute final grade
Resolve Disputes
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Enjoyability(2 semesters with CIS677)
Cronbachs Alpha0.68
SA - strongly agree (5 points) A - agree (4) N
- neutral (3) D - disagree (2) SD - strongly
disagree (1) the mean is out of 5 points S.D. -
standard deviation
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Perceived Learning
Cronbachs Alpha0.88
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Recommendation Do Again!
Similar results for CIS365 undergraduate file
structures course using short essay questions
(Fall 2002)
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PLA Environment Software

• Guide the process
• Form groups
• Assign problem solvers, evaluators, dispute
  arbitrators
• On-line templates to ensure full entries
• Guide people to post entries in correct place
• Incorporate group process tools
• Handle problems as much as possible
• Remind people who are late
• Reallocate who does what
• Based on a workflow management tool

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Extensions Activity Support

• Can we build in tools to support each activity
• How to construct a problem
• How to research and construct a solution
• How to evaluate a solution
• How to resolve a disputed evaluation
• Technical term scaffolding (educational
  literature)
• Initial approach inquiry-based support (ed.
  literature)

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Extensions Full Collaboration

• Groups for
• Problems, solutions, evaluation, dispute
  arbitration
• Requires group process support
• Process work on each activity together or
  separately, internal review
• Grading of individual group members
• Process Tools brainstorming, voting, etc.

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Extensions Scope

• Which activities?
• so far exams
• what about quizzes, homeworks, larger projects,
  in-class projects
• Which problem types?
• so far short and long essay questions
• what about multiple choice, short answer,
  computer programs, semester projects
• Sub-problems
• computer program design implementation
• semester project outline execution

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Extensions Scope, cont.

• Course Level
• Graduate, undergraduate, secondary school (high
  school, junior high)
• Disciplines
• IS/IT, business, science, engineering,
  humanities, medical, all of secondary school

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Extensions Scope, cont.

• Degree of Evaluation (assigning grades)
• Currently solutions
• What about
• quality of problems
• quality of evaluations/grades
• All could be disputed
• Degree of Participation
• students could evaluate each
• students could arbitrate disputes

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Internship/Ph.D. Opportunity

• Literature review and suggestions for all of the
  extensions
• For more information on PLA see
  http//is.njit.edu/pla/