Shifting to Specifications Grading: Two Design Cases
Tuesday @ 2 pm ETMost formal learning experiences result in some sort of assessment and acknowledgment of learning outcomes, which may range from a certificate of completion to a grade on a rating scale. Whatever system is used, instructors and students benefit from clear expectations and well-aligned learning objectives and assessment measures. Specifications grading is one approach that promotes a focus on achieved learning outcomes by clearly articulating expectations and the relationship between competencies and grades. This paper presents two university-level course design cases, one undergraduate and one graduate, in which a shift was made to a specifications grading system. The redesign required careful consideration of key competencies, competency indicators, mastery thresholds, and revision opportunities. At each course level, there were different challenges to address, reflecting different levels of the course difficulty and anticipated student maturity. Issues such as providing student feedback in a specifications system, handling situations where students challenge the system, and conversion to standard university grading scales also are discussed. Benefits included increased student self-regulation and ownership of the learning and assessment processes.
________________________________________________________________________
Our Two Cents: How to Make Online Learners Feel Inclusive?
Tuesday @ 3 pm ETWe often think online is a neutral place to communicate and there’s no exclusion at all. However, people feel othered or excluded for various reasons online as in face to face classroom. The reasons for feeling othered are attributed to various membership categorization in which students put themselves. Some students think they are old and lack of technology skills compared to young digital natives. If students first joined a program, they might think their knowledge level is way lower than other incumbent students taking the same course and hesitate to share their voice. International students may struggle due to lack of language proficiency and cultural differences. They sometimes do not understand what domestic students intend to say or simply feel offended because of different writing style. Misunderstandings often happen in the cyber place due to delayed communication and lack of personal intimacy. Because many online learners are professional, they might feel excluded when other students know each other from face to face classes. There are many more reasons why online learners feel othered, excluded, and isolated. It is very important for online instructor to understand those reasons and find ways to mitigate such negative feelings to make online learners feel more inclusive. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore online learners’ feelings of and reasons for otherness based on our interviews and provide some useful tips and tricks for online instructors.
________________________________________________________________________
Teaching Academic Success Strategies to Online and Distance Education Transfer Students
Thursday @ 9 pm ETUndergraduate transfer students are those that transition from one institution of higher education to another before earning their bachelor’s degree. Transfer students are often non-traditional in terms of their age, race, veteran status, family, and employment status. They also see higher attrition rates in distance learning programs. This presentation will describe a Ph.D. (instructional systems & learning technologies) student’s efforts to teach and develop an online 1-credit course on academic success for online and distance learning transfer students that are struggling academically at a 4-year institution. This online course features both asynchronous and synchronous activities such as video-based lectures, teacher-student conferences, discussion boards, journal writing activities and more.
________________________________________________________________________
What does your profile photo tell your students about you?
Thursday @ 10 pm ETIn online courses, instructors play an important role in modeling the expected and accepted forms of being. They not only set the tone for themselves but also for the learners. They demonstrate what and how to post, the desired length and content of messages, the appropriate tone and writing style, and the use of emoticons and visuals. These elements all contribute to unfolding interaction, and also relate to developing impressions about one’s identity. In online courses, instructors communicate their identities through performative acts including but not limited to their names, titles, affiliations, the tone of the course syllabus, and writing styles (voice). One of the visual identifiers that appear next to one’s name also communicates aspects of identity: a profile photo. People communicate information about themselves through their choice of images and the identity markers within the image (e.g., what you wear, where you look, what you include in and exclude off the frame, who you are with, where you are, what is in the background and how you smile). Based on these identity markers, learners form impressions about the instructor that contribute to their course related-perceptions and expectations. This presentation draws upon findings of an ongoing study and addresses the components of online profile photos and how these components facilitate instructor presence and identity online. This session may provide instructors with useful insights about profile photos. Moreover, this session may also help instructors with constructing instructor presence and identity that they wish to color using their profile photos in an online course context.
________________________________________________________________________
Faculty-librarian partnership in shifting to OER
Thursday @ 10:30 pm ETThis case study explored how one teaching faculty member, Ms. Day, developed a new course together with librarians who were running Open Educational Resource (OER) initiatives at a large public university. Three types of data were collected: interviews, observations of consultation meetings between Ms. Day and librarians, and documentation. In Ms. Day’s case, librarians not only helped her secure OERs, but also provide consultation on course design. They worked together mainly through an OER workshop facilitated by librarians, three face-to-face consultations, and consultations via email. By partnering with librarians to develop her new course with OERs, Ms. Day increased knowledge of OERs, increased odds of getting her new course approved, and improved competence in instructional design. She learned how to implement OER-enabled pedagogy in her class to create enriched and positive learning experience. Librarians provided a different way to look at the new course design and made constructive suggestions. However, there were three major tensions that hindered collaborations between them: time constraint, limited capacity, and technology issues. The finding suggests shifting to OERs could be a large process in which faculty-librarian partnerships were necessary and essential. The process helped faculty smoothly shift to OERs in their course and improve their teaching. The study would benefit the audience who are interested in shifting to OERs. The audience would learn where to find appropriate OERs for their course, how to implement OER-enabled pedagogy in their class, and how to effectively partner with librarians to incorporate OERs in their class.
