This paper discusses the effectiveness of the videoconferencing software Blackboard Collaborate for carrying out instruction at college level to students attending classes synchronously at multiple locations. The paper describes the motivation for this study, a brief literature review on the subject, the methodology used, and the results obtained. The main conclusion of this study is the confirmation that synchronous instruction, in general, and Blackboard Collaborate, in particular, is an effective environment for tuition of students at a distance. Based on this study, several recommendations to be used in synchronous education are provided.
Tag: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Leading the Charge for SoTL – Embracing Collaboration
The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) enables colleges and universities to assess student learning and measure the outcomes by engaging in meaningful research, and to disseminate this research. The objective of this paper is to give a snapshot of and assess the current thinking behind this scholarship by presenting examples of SoTL, and to provide insights into the measurement of SoTL research by faculty members. By presenting a carefully crafted research agenda in SoTL, colleges and universities can disseminate this research as a means of providing useful assessments of student learning and measurements of relevant outcomes.
Using the Comfortability in Learning Scale to Enhance Positive Classroom Learning Environments
A goal of higher education is to advance learning. This study examined the role “comfortability” plays in that process. Defined as the level of comfort students experience with their classmates, instructor, and course material, comfortability addresses how secure a student feels in the classroom. Comfortability was assessed multiple times during one semester with undergraduate students and found student comfortability significantly increased across the course of the semester and significantly predicted affective learning. These findings suggest the importance of the classroom environment in the learning process and support the need for faculty to consider “non-academic” factors in addition to course content.
Healthcare Learning Community and Student Retention
Teaching, learning, and retention processes have evolved historically to include multifaceted techniques beyond the traditional lecture. This article presents related results of a study using a healthcare learning community in a southwest Georgia university. The value of novel techniques and tools in promoting student learning and retention remains under review. This study includes a healthcare learning community as a cutting-edge teaching and learning modality. The results of an introspective survey of 22 students in a learning community explore strategies to enhance culturally relevant teaching, learning, and retention. Although learning and retention studies have been conducted at numerous universities, few have included feedback from students in a healthcare learning community. Frequencies from student responses were tabulated using five thematic factors: social support, career knowledge/opportunities, academic support, networking and faculty rapport/relationship building. Of the five theme areas, social support was identified most frequently by students as a means to support their learning and retention in the university setting.
Online Course Quality Assurance: Development of a Quality Checklist
The University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Online Course Checklist is the main instrument for assessing the quality of online courses at UNK. A number of issues were faced when developing and deploying this quality assurance checklist at a small four-year university. The process including development, implementation, and revision is discussed along with the need for faculty buy-in. Special considerations included how to assess the quality of an online course while ensuring academic freedom in accordance with a union contract. The purpose of this case study is to provide a roadmap for institutions that are developing an instrument of their own.
Using Technology-Nested Instructional Strategies to Enhance Student Learning
Students today expect the use of technology in their classes, rather than have to listen to less-than-engaging lectures. College students are connected electronically and incessant technology consumers. As a result, they may prefer the infusion of technologies to help them learn and enjoy the process of learning, rather than having to listen exclusively to lectures. To investigate this, the authors solicited student perceptions to assess the importance of learning through technology-nested instructional strategies. Student perceptions give direction to and affirm the benefits of instructional strategies that increase student motivation to engage more actively in their learning. Based on quantitative and qualitative responses through action research in multiple courses, students perceive their learning as more engaging and enjoyable when technology-nested instructional strategies are infused into their classes.
Negativity in Massive Online Open Courses: Impacts on Learning and Teaching and How Instructional Teams May Be Able to Address It
There are many positive aspects of teaching and learning in Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs), for both instructors and students. However, there is also a considerable amount of negativity in MOOCs, emerging from learners on discussion forums and through peer assessment, from disciplinary colleagues and from public discourse around MOOCs. Through mixed-methods case-study research of two diverse MOOCs (one focused on general, introductory-level content and one designed for specialized graduate students and professionals), we consider the following questions: What are the various forms that negativity takes in MOOCs? How might MOOC negativity vary among disciplines? How does negativity impact MOOC instructors and learners? We present evidence suggesting that MOOC negativity poses a serious problem that may be responsible for instructor/ learner disengagement and instructor burnout, and that anticipating and addressing such negativity can improve MOOC learning communities. Lessons learned from these two MOOCs can be beneficial not only to those involved with MOOCs, but also to those involved in other online educational contexts where faculty and learners seek to manage existing and anticipated negativity.
A Dual Approach to Fostering Under-Prepared Student Success: Focusing on Doing and Becoming
A paired course model for under-prepared college students incorporates a dual instructional approach, academic skill building and lifelong learning development, to help students do more academically and become stronger lifelong learners. In a reading support course, students improved their reading skills and applied them directly to the paired content course. They also developed lifelong learning attributes through increased self-knowledge (using the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory), reflection, and coaching. Students showed significant gains in lifelong learning, an 85% success rate in the paired content course, and a higher retention rate than students outside the project with similar SAT critical reading scores.
Creative Writing Assignments in a Second Language Course: A Way to Engage Less Motivated Students
This article makes a case for using creative writing in a second language course. Creative writing increases students’ enthusiasm for writing skills development and supports students’ creativity, which is a fundamental aspect of education. In order to engage less motivated students, a series of creative writing assignments was implemented in a second language writing course. This study presents the rationale for the use of creative writing grounded in critical pedagogy and the context of instruction. Data collection focused on the content of students’ writing and their attitudes towards creative writing and critical pedagogy. The results show that all the participating students found the assignment both enjoyable and beneficial for the development of their writing ability. However, the students’ perceptions of critical pedagogy varied. The author argues for greater employment of creative writing in second language courses in the future.
An Investigation into Student Engagement in Higher Education Classrooms
This article reports on a one-year research project that used peer coaching and collaboration between two reading professors to study the effects of collaborative classroom activities on student engagement. In order to address professors’ concerns about student participation, two undergraduate reading-methods classes were revised through the inclusion of more collaborative learning activities. Classroom observations were conducted to take notes on both pedagogical methods and student response to these methods. Students were also asked to self-assess their engagement in behavioral, cognitive, and affective domains. The results of this research were then used to revise pedagogical techniques in these and other classes.