Abstract

Service Learning at a Distance: Engaging Online Learners in Applying Their Knowledge and Skills to Help Others

Purpose of the Presentation: One of the challenges of teaching an online course is to get students involved with the content beyond simply reading and discussing it. When students are separated from the instructor and each other by distance and time, how can they be effectively guided in arranging, participating in, and completing service-learning experiences? The presenter will share instructional strategies he has utilized to rise above such challenges.

Target Audience: Higher education faculty, but all are welcome.

Instructional Context: The presenter is a professor in the College of Education and Human Development at Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah. The college offers six courses for the endorsement of content-area teachers (whether pre-service or in-service) in teaching English as a second language (ESL). The program is designed to help them develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions associated with adapting, designing, preparing, and providing instruction to meet the academic, linguistic, and social needs of ESL learners in K-12 schools. Many of the university students who are interested in obtaining this ESL endorsement work full time, and some live at a great distance from the university, so they are not able to attend a traditional, face-to-face class; therefore, the program is offered as an e-learning opportunity using the Blackboard Learning System to provide online, virtual classrooms. The service-learning experience associated with several of the courses requires students to find non-native English speakers in their own geographical area and provide them with tutoring.

Presentation Plan and Objectives: Out of the 45 minutes available for this presentation, the first 20 minutes will be used to describe the context of the investigation: the courses, the instructional materials used (case studies, multimedia, practical experiences, and discussion activities), the online learners and instructor, and the various approaches used to engage learners with the content of the course and to apply their recently acquired knowledge and skills in a service-learning experience. During the next 15 minutes, the methods and results of the investigation will be explained and discussed. The remaining 10 minutes will be used for participants’ questions and discussion, sharing of their ideas and experiences, and ideas for future investigations.

Practical Applications: Participants of this proposed session will hear about and see the presenter’s processes and the end results of selecting high-quality instructional materials (including case studies, multimedia, practical experiences, and discussion activities) that were originally designed for face-to-face delivery and adapting them so that they could be effectively implemented in a completely online learning environment to engage the learners with the content of the course, with each other, and with English language learners. The participants and the presenter will gain useful insights from one another as they discuss successes and failures in actual efforts to engage online learners with case studies, multimedia, discussion activities, practical experiences, and service-learning experiences.

Relationship to the Conference Theme: Teaching with technology in an online learning environment can be made more effective by implementing instructional strategies that engage learners with the content and give them opportunities to apply what they have learned in service to others.

Information to Support What is Advocated: Examples of the instructional materials utilized, the strategies implemented in several online ESL endorsement courses, the theoretical base, and data gathered from three years of the presenter teaching these courses will be shared during the presentation.

Presenter

Thomas Cunningham

Tom Cunningham, professor of education, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT. Degrees: dual-major B.A., linguistics and Spanish (BYU, 1984); M.A., teaching English as a second language (BYU, 1986); Ph.D., instructional technology (USU, 1994). Career as teacher started at LDS Missionary Training Center, teaching Spanish (4 years). Taught ESL (7 years total) at Provo Adult High School, BYU, BYU-Hawaii, and USU. Faculty member at SUU since 1994 in various roles. For 8 years in Library, taught instructional technology and library media courses, directed SUU’s faculty development program, and served as reference librarian, library instruction coordinator, and collection development specialist. Next 3 years, taught information systems courses, e.g., multimedia production, systems analysis and design, and IS project management for School of Business and College of Computing, Integrated Engineering, and Technology. Since fall 2005, has been teaching instructional technology and ESL teacher training courses in SUU’s College of Education and Human Development.

Abstract

Using Online Homework in Traditional College Math Classes or How to Grade 45,000 Homework Problems and Still Keep Smiling
Purpose and Audience

The purpose of this presentation is to present research-based results regarding the effectiveness of using online homework as part of a college math class. These online homework systems offer many potential advantages to instructors, such as the ability to provide instantaneous feedback, as well as a great deal of tutorial assistance, on each and every homework problem assigned. Other potential advantages include increasing student motivation to succeed, offering many students the opportunity to develop content mastery, and allowing the instructor more time to teach instead of grade homework.

Whether teaching online, hybrid, or traditional face-to-face classes, many instructors are considering using one of the many available and highly advanced online homework systems. This presentation will provide these instructors with research-based and anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of these systems. In addition, I will share my experiences with using these systems for the past 5 years.

Objectives

During this presentation I will:

1) Discuss the basic features and benefits of modern online homework systems. These features include immediate feedback for each homework problem. Tutorial assistance is also offered for each homework problem including the option to have the computer help the student solve the problem, the option to view a completely solved similar problem, the option to view a Quicktime video lecture which discusses the related concepts, and the option to view Flash animations which demonstrate principles and procedures. All of these features are integrated completely with the textbook.

Other features include the opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery and feel like they can succeed if they are willing to expend the appropriate effort. Students can work on each homework problem until they get it correct. This small feature often inspires students to keep trying because they want a perfect score, a result that doesn’t often happen with textbook homework.

Other benefits and features will also be discussed.

2) Discuss research results which examine these benefits. Several studies (including mine) have been performed which attempt to answer the question: do students learn more when they use online homework, with all of its bells and whistles, than when they use textbook homework. These results will be shared along with a critical analysis of their methods and conclusions.

My study additionally asked the question, do underprepared students learn more from online homework than prepared students. This question is important because more and more students are enrolling in college math class underprepared. The hypothesis is that underprepared students may benefit more from online homework because of the feedback, tutorial assistance, and motivational opportunities.

3) Discuss personal and anecdotal experiences related to using online homework systems as part of a traditional, lecture-based college math class. I have used online homework systems for 5 years as part of my face-to-face classes. I have seen the pros and the cons of such systems and will share these during the presentation. In addition, many institutions are reporting incredible improvements when they employ online homework. These results will be discussed and analyzed.

4) Discuss the challenges and drawbacks of using such systems. Some of the challenges include network crashes and software incompatibilities. Students who don’t have internet access at home also have difficulties. Other drawbacks are related to how the computer grades homework and how students enter their answers. These drawbacks will be discussed and experience-based solutions will be offered.

5) Engage the attendees in discussions relating to their experiences. I am interested in hearing how others are using online homework systems. Everyone can learn something from this discussion.

Practical Applications and Relationship to the Theme

I believe that online homework systems are one technological advance that will be part of math classes for many years to come. In the past, these systems have often been disregarded by educators because of the lack of pedagogical strength and because they required computing/networking power that was not available. However, with the problem of computing/network power largely solved both personally and institutionally, modern online homework systems are being created which offer many features and which are very adept at teaching students and helping them understand. In short, these systems are the wave of the future and educators need to be made aware of their real advantages and the research which supports them.

Information to Support What is Advocated

Davidson, A. (2004). An examination of the effects and costs of instruction that relies on computer-assisted instruction for delivering and managing homework assignments in college calculus courses. Unpublished Ph.D., The University of Rochester, United States — New York.

Hirsch, L., & Weibel, C. (2003). Statistical evidence that web-based homework helps. FOCUS, 23(2), 14.

Hurn, J. L. (2006). An analysis of the effects of online practice quizzes on the achievement, self-efficacy, and academic motivation of college algebra students at a community college. Unpublished Ph.D., Kansas State University, United States — Kansas.

Speckler, M. D. (2008). Making the grade: A compendium of data-driven case studies on the effectiveness of MyMathLab and MathXL. Retrieved November 14, 2008, from http://www.mymathlab.com/makingthegrade_v3.pdf.

Zerr, R. (2007). A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of online homework in first-semester calculus. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 26(1), 55.

Presenter

Shane Brewer

I have been teaching math at the San Juan Campus for eleven years. Prior to that, I taught for short periods at BYU and UVU. I have always been interested in finding new ways to use technology to enhance traditional math classrooms. From graphing calculators and computer algebra systems to wikis and complete online learning systems I have tinkered with them all in the classroom at one time or another. I am particularly interested in exploring ways in which technology can help students who have previously had less than enjoyable experiences with mathematics. I have seen many of these students respond positively to approaches which use technology and don’t just follow the same pattern that frustrated them before. When not thinking about math I play golf, chess, and go. Or I am taking my family on some death march through one of the many canyons in Southeastern Utah.