Teaching with Technology Idea Exchange » students

Increasing Student Engagement in Distance Learning Courses

Nate Southerland — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:01:48 +0000

Student engagement is critical for retention and success, especially in distance learning settings, where students have little or no face-to-face contact with their classmates and instructors. In this presentation, we will explore student retention theory and how it can inform distance learning practices to promote student engagement and success. Participants will share favorite tools for promoting engagement with one another as part of the session.

Abstract

Title: Increasing Student Engagement in Distance Learning Courses

Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to introduce participants to key elements of student retention theory and how it can inform best practices for distance learning teachers at both K-12 and postsecondary levels. The presentation is intended both for distance learning instructors and faculty/staff assistance centers and professional development personnel who work with distance learning instructors.

Objectives: During this session, we will:
- Explore key elements of student retention theory, including academic and social integration, academic engagement strategies, and social engagement strategies.
- Explore ways in which student characteristics influence engagement.
- Discuss how to connect students with academic and social support services normally available to on-site students.
- Share proven practices and tools for promoting and assessing student engagement.

Practical Applications: Participants in this session will be better prepared to implement practices that promote student engagement, retention, and success. Additional resources for further exploration will be introduced for those who wish to pursue this topic in additional detail.

Relationship to Conference Theme: For those who teach with technology, promoting student engagement is critical to combat the potentially de-humanizing elements of technology-delivered instruction.

Theoretical Base:
Educational institutions have long puzzled over how to help students succeed. Successful outcomes include degree attainment, intellectual growth, social growth, job placement, and so forth (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991, 2005). Two closely related areas of concentration in the field of student success are research on student retention (how institutions retain students) and student persistence (what factors lead a student to persist to graduation). While much of the literature base for this presentation comes from the higher education literature, the ideas also apply to secondary students participating in non-traditional educational experiences.

Of all the recent models of student retention, perhaps none is more influential than the model first proposed in 1975 by Vincent Tinto. Tinto proposes that voluntary student withdrawal from higher education institutions, like suicide, results from “insufficient interactions with others in the college and insufficient congruency with the prevailing value patterns of the college collectivity” (1975, p. 92). Specifying two realms of interaction within colleges and universities, the academic and social realms, Tinto forms a conceptual schema that “argues that it is the individual’s integration into the academic and social systems of the college that most directly relates to his continuance in that college” (p. 96). He uses two constructs – goal commitment, or dedication to finishing a program of study, and institutional commitment, or dedication to staying at a particular institution – to explain student retention and proposes that the degree of academic and social integration experienced by a student in the college environment directly influences these two forms of commitment (see Figure 1 on p. 95).

Tinto (1975) defines academic integration as the degree to which a student is incorporated into the academic fabric of his or her institution. He argues that academic integration can be measured both in terms of grade performance and the more nebulous construct of intellectual development. While the former refers to how successfully a student meets explicit academic standards, the latter, he asserts, is more closely related to how well the student comes to identify with the norms of the academic system (p. 104). Calling upon the work of Rootman (1972), Tinto proposes that “voluntary withdrawal can be viewed as an individual’s response to the strain produced by the lack of ‘person-role’ fit between himself and the normative climate of the institution that establishes certain roles as appropriate to the institution” (p. 106). Hence, the retention of students depends heavily upon how successfully the institution can integrate students into the academic realm of the college or university. In a similar vein, social integration “involves notions of both levels of integration and of degrees of congruency between the individual and his social environment” (p. 107) and is also a key predictor of student retention.

For nontraditional students, the implicit norms of an institution are just as powerful as explicit expectations in their effect on students (Weidman, 1989). In addition, factors outside the institution exert a strong pull; nontraditional students tend to experience lower degrees of social integration on campus because of their off-campus obligations (Bean & Metzner, 1985). Academic integration seems to have a greater effect on the persistence of nontraditional students than social integration by having a direct effect on commitment (Cleveland-Innes, 1994). Tinto also acknowledged this more recently: “In most cases, academic integration seems to be the more important form of involvement” (1998, p. 169).
Other authors have highlighted the critical role of the classroom experience and the role of faculty in fostering academic integration and goal commitment (Sandler, 2002; Sorey & Duggan, 2008; Weidman, 1985). Though he did not include it as a part of his original conceptualization of academic integration, Tinto himself later highlighted the critical role of the classroom: “student engagement is, for most institutions, centered in and around the classroom” (1993, p. 132). In creating a model of college outcomes, Donaldson and colleagues have placed the “connecting classroom” in a prominent position, calling on prior research to highlight its importance (Donaldson, 1999; Donaldson, Graham, Kasworm, & Dirkx, 1999; Graham, Donaldson, Kasworm, & Dirkx, 2000). Said Donaldson concerning nontraditional students, “their class-related learning and their relationships with faculty and other students become the most powerful influences on their campus experiences” (Donaldson, 1999, p. 28).

Elsewhere McGivney identifies high-quality course content and presentation together with a supportive learner group as critical success factors for nontraditional students (McGivney, 2004). Negative academic experiences, such as lack of access to counseling, mentoring, and academic advising, are identified as primary causes for adult student dropout (Hensley & Kinser, 2001a; 2001b; Sissel, Hansman, & Kasworm, 2001). From the sources cited above, it becomes apparent that for the nontraditional student with substantial off-campus obligations and limited social interaction on campus, instructional experiences play a major role in institutional persistence. That is, positive instructional experiences lead to stronger commitment and a greater likelihood of retention.

Presenter

Nate Southerland

Nate is an Instructional Services specialist at the Utah Education Network. A former high school physics teacher and educational technology specialist on the Navajo Reservation, he is currently finishing his PhD coursework in Educational Leadership and Policy department at the University of Utah. Nate’s research focuses on student retention in higher education.

Engagement of students in creation and maintenance of dynamic course materials

W. Kirk Love — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:48:51 +0000

Course materials can be very hard to maintain in a dynamic field such as computer science where technologies make major changes in time periods as small as a few months. This session teaches attendees how they can employ Wiki technology and engage students to not only keep documents up to date but to also adapt them to learning styles and changing demographics.

First Session

Engagement of students in creation and maintenance of dynamic course materials

Purpose of presentation (why is this important and who is the target audience)

We have growing requirements for independent study and distance education as we reach out to less traditional students and as we work with dropping budgets and increasing enrollments. These trends as mentioned above require more formal preparation of lesson materials so that students can work independently with little instructor involvement. When a subject of study is highly dynamic as we have in Computer Science and Information Technologies, it becomes very difficult for a faculty member to keep up documentation and course materials so they slowly spiral into irrelevance as does the class and its attractiveness to students.

Over the last two semesters I have employed a Web Wiki know as http://WikiLearn.uvu.edu/cs and I have engaged our students in the process of dynamically updating course material as our course progresses. The students and I have had a very positive experience and course materials are rapidly advancing. I also have successfully brought in adjunct faculty and other faculty members into this process.

Objectives of the presentation (what are you planning to do)

1. Build an understanding of how dynamic subject matter can impact course material and an instructor’s credibility.
2. Review new budget reality and show how adopting a wiki based course document library can help us do more with less, perhaps a lot more.
3. Technical review of Media Wiki as used in WikiLearn.uvu.edu and WikiPedia.org including document structure, management, access control, available tools, and basic edit procedures.
4. Review student response to their involvement and how their involvement actually impacted the documents.

Practical applications (how can your results/strategies be used by others)

Media Wiki can be used at several levels including by beginners. Through my experience I have defined a set of rules and rewards that have provided students with incentive to maintain course document and to do a quality job. With every class I’ve held using the Wiki beneficial changes have been made and my documents continue to become better and better.

Enough information will be given in this presentation that any attending faculty member should be able to set up such a Wiki and start using it in their courses of instruction upon their return home. They will know:
1. Were to get MediaWiki.
2. How to Install it and set its options.
3. Strategies for grouping and organizing documents.
4. Rules that need to be articulated and enforced (with expulsion if necessary).
5. Strategies for rewarding and motivating students to participate and do a good job.
6. And the will be given working templates that can help them quickly set up their Wiki.

Relationship to the conference theme

This is teaching with technology at its best: this technology engages students working to improve a course, keep it up to date, and to take responsibility for what they learn. It also lets faculty maintain much more sophisticated documents such that a student can use them with less faculty involvement. Students can adapt documents to multiple learning styles, and examples that may make more sense to a given group of individuals can be quickly added.

Information (data or theoretical base) to support what is advocated.

I will be able to show initial lesson materials and results of two semesters of evolution. I will also have stats on the number and types of changes that where made along with subjective evaluations made by students at the end of each semester.

Second Session

Building Your Wiki

Will setup and modify a wiki.

Presenter

W. Kirk Love

Graduated with an Associates in Mathematics from Ricks College Idaho, a BS in Data Processing and Numerical Techniques from Weber State, Utah, received a Masters in Computer Science from BYU.

I worked for over 25 years in software development before moving to UVU, beginning as a tenure track faculty member, October of 2000.

Since then, with student involvement, I have brought distance ed to our department, designed and deployed a digital class room using low cost web technologies, brought Image Processing to our department, and am now working on this Wiki Project.

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

Shane Brewer — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:12:24 +0000

Online homework systems are becoming more advanced and available to the mathematics educators. These systems offer many potential advantages to instructors. I recently conducted an experimental study which compared the effectiveness of using online homework versus textbook homework in a traditional face-to-face college algebra class. The results of this study and other like it will be reported in an effort to help others determine if incorporating an online homework system would be beneficial.

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.

Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works

Matt Kuhn — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:24:51 +0000

This is an introduction to the book “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works.” Within the framework of research-based instructional strategies, seven wide-ranging categories of educational technology are applied:
• Word Processing Applications
• Spreadsheet Software
• Organizing and Brainstorming Software
• Multimedia
• Data Collection Tools
• Web Resources
• Communication Software (Web 2.0)
After a brief overview, participants will try out some of the latest applications beyond those found in the book.

Abstract

How do we keep students engaged in learning in a technologically advancing world? How do we link research-based instructional strategies with modern techniques? Where do we find the best educational technology resources? The answers are in the new book, “Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works.”

Matt Kuhn, co-author of the book will give an introductory presentation that outlines the book and demonstrates some if it’s most intriguing examples.

This book builds upon the landmark book “Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement” (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001) by linking each of its nine categories of instructional strategies with educational technology applications, examples, and resources.

This presentation will introduce participants to chapters infused with research findings and stories of classroom practice including learning through inquiry, projects, collaboration, games, and other activities that make school exciting and meaningful for students. It also includes guidance in planning technology-enhanced lessons and linking them with national standards.

Technology provides the opportunity to differentiate instruction and transform our classrooms into engaging and dynamic learning environments where every student’s learning style is respected and developed. This book shows us why we must embrace education technology and how to do it. Whether you are an ed-tech guru or an ed-tech beginner, this book will take your teaching to the next level.

The motivation for this book is the popular 3-day workshop of the same name. McREL has given the Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works workshop in numerous schools and districts across the country with thousands of participants. This book goes in depth with topics from the workshop and further with educational technology issues, standards, and planning to improve student achievement. The research supporting improvement in student learning can be found in the reference section of the book (too extensive to include here).

What’s special about this book is that its authors are fluent in both the research behind the nine categories of instruction and technology integration. They are well-versed in how to teach the strategies and the need for teachers to have practical and immediately applicable solutions for their classrooms. They innately understand adult learning theory and the finesse needed to teach to different technology comfort levels.

Through practical guidance and anecdotes that put the participants right in the classroom, the presenter shows the power of technology to motivate and reach various learning styles. Participants consistently discuss the points of why and how teachers should use 21st century tools to transform and energize their practice. The presentation also makes powerful use of “nonlinguistic representation” in the variety of graphics, screenshots, and illustrations throughout the presentation.

Participants of this session will learn about the nine categories of research-based instructional strategies and educational technology applications such as word processing, organizing and brainstorming software, data collection tools, web resources, multimedia, and communication software (Web 2.0). These are organized into four planning questions as follows.
1. What knowledge will students learn?
2. Which instructional strategies will provide evidence that students have learned that knowledge?
3. Which strategies will help students acquire and integrate that knowledge?
4. Which strategies will help students practice, review and apply knowledge?

Selected References

Alexander, B. (March/April 2006). Web 2.0: a new wave of innovation for teaching and learning? Educause. Retrieved April 25, 2006 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0621.pdf

Barley, Z., Lauer, P. A., Arens, S. A., Apthorp, H. S., Englert, K. S., Snow, D., & Akiba, M. (2002). Helping at-risk students meet standards: A synthesis of evidence-based classroom practices. Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

Brabec, K., Fisher, K., Pitler, H. (2004). Building better instruction: How technology supports nine research-proven instructional strategies. Learning and Leading with Technology, 31(5), 6-11.

Cholmsky, P. (2003). Why gizmos work: empirical evidence for the instructional effectiveness of explorelearning’s interactive content. Charlottesville, VA: ExploreLearning. Retrieved March 15, 2006 from http://www.explorelearning.com/View/downloads/WhyGizmosWork.pdf

Fico, M. (2005, June 1). Honoring student’s voices. Educator’s eZine. Retrieved March 17, 2006 from http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=163105484

Friedman, T. L. (2005). The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Halverson, R. (2005). What can K-12 school leaders learn from video games and gaming? Innovate 1(6). Retrieved March 14, 2006 from http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=81

High schools plug into online writing program. (2003, November 1). District Administrator 39(11). Retrieved March 14, 2006 from http://www.districtadministration.com/page.cfm?p=572

Hill, J. and Flynn, K. (2006). Classroom instruction that works with English language learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Klopfer, E. (July/August 2005). Playing to learn: state-of-the-art computer games go to school. Access Learning. Retrieved March 14, 2006 from http://www.ciconline.org/AboutCIC/Publications/Archives/HL_julaug05.htm

Kriz W. and Eberle T. (2004). Bridging the Gap, Transforming Knowledge into Action through Gaming and Simulation. Proceedings of the 35th Conference of the International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA). Munchen, Germany.

Lobel, J. (2006). Multiplayer Computer Gaming Simulations Facilitating Cooperative Learning. IT in Education, Trinity College Dublin.

Lucas, George (2005, November 17). [Podcast] George Lucas and the new world of learning. Edutopia Radio Show. Retrieved August 28, 2006, from http://www.edutopia.org/php/radio.php

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., and Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Page, M. S. (2002). Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(4), 389–409.

Prensky, M. (2000). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw Hill.

Ringstaff, C., and Kelley, L. (2002). The learning return on our education technology investment: A review of findings from research. San Francisco: WestEd RTEC.

Siegle, D. and Foster, T. “Effects of laptop computers with multimedia and presentation software on student achievement.” American Education Research Association (AERA) [Annual Meeting]. New Orleans, LA. April 2000.

Squire, K. (2001). Reframing the Cultural Space of Computer and Video Games. Massachussetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved March 14, 2006 from http://cms.mit.edu/games/education/research-vision.html

Tseng, C. H. (2004). Pupils’ Using of Multimedia Advance Organizer and Learning Retention. Paper appearing in proceedings. Eskov, S., editor, Computers and Advanced Technology in Education, August, 2004 (428).

Presenter

Matt Kuhn

Matt Kuhn is a former teacher and principal. He is now a Lead Educational Technology Consultant with Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL). He conducts professional development in educational technology integration, technology leadership, mathematics, and science. He is a co-author of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler, et al, 2007).

The Cheatability Factor

Marc Hugentobler — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:09:04 +0000

PowerPoint for The Cheatability Factor

Nobody wants students cheating in their online class. Could you be making it easy for students to cheat? What is your Cheatability factor? Presenters will discuss their rubric for cheatability in an online course. We will look at the main influences on cheating and show you how to determine cheatability in your own course. Participants will weigh in on the relative value of “direct assault” vs. “hearts and minds” pedagogical approaches to prevent cheating.

Objectives

Identify the cheatability factor and it influences
Determine the cheatability of an online course
Understand what changes can reduce cheatability in an online course

Biography
As fine a instructional cowboy as ever roped an online course or saddled a pedagogy.

Empowering Language Students to Share the Arts Through Technology

robbmccollum — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:09:04 +0000

Title: Empowering Language Students to Share the Arts Through Technology

Purpose: This presentation will describe how technology-medium art projects helped ESL students in an intensive English language program to practice their listening and speaking skills. The use of simple, but exciting, technology-based art projects motivated students to collaborate and apply advanced content and language.

The use of technology in this course was designed to accomplish the language and content objectives of a Humanities English for Academic Purposes course. Language goals were accomplished through group collaboration in which students were required to plan, apply, and critique art and artistic ideas. Students were assigned to work in small, mixed language-background teams that required them to problem solve and defend their opinions in English.

Students also applied content objectives as they interacted with authentic content (through the campus art museum) and current technologies (including podcasting and digital film making). As a result, in addition to practicing their language skills, they also engaged with artistic content and materials and they learned how to use relevant communications software including Apple Garageband and iMovie. Projects for this course included audio tours of campus art exhibits and short films for a campus film festival.

Objectives: This presentation will give an overview of the course objectives, how the technology projects related to course objectives, and how students reacted to the projects.

Applications: Suggestions are offered for educators, of both content and language courses, who wish to integrate similar technology projects into their classrooms.

Thematic Relation: This presentation demonstrates not only how teachers can integrate technology into theirt classroom, but also how they can show their students how to use multimedia technology to communicate their appreciation of the Arts.

Information: This presentation will make use of student made projects (with appropriate approval) to support the ideas being shared.

2nd-Day Hands On: Empowering Students to Share the Arts Through Audio Podcast Tours
This workshop will encourage attendees to create their own audio podcast tour right on the Utah Valley campus. Attendees will go through the same process that classroom students do: plan the tour, take photos, write the script, record the audio, edit the tour, and then publish the podcast.

Biography
Robb is a language educator and teacher trainer with the English Language Center at Brigham Young University. He is also pursuing a PhD in instructional psychology and technology with an emphasis in language assessment.