Stage 4

Redesign Results

Course Redesign Impact on Teaching and Learning

I wanted to redesign the course in hopes that using google docs and other technologies would help me hold my students more accountable for completing revisions, which in turn would lead to more students passing the class. Students did struggle with moving from drafting on their own google docs to drafting on the university’s google docs, so I cannot say that the change completely solved the issues, but it definitely helped!

Assessment Findings

 

Student Feedback

Course Redesign Impact on Teaching and Learning

How has the course redesign strategies affected your instruction and your students’ learning? Did your redesign strategy solve the issues that motivated you to redesign the course?  

I wanted to redesign the course in hopes that using google docs and other technologies would help me hold my students more accountable for completing revisions, which in turn would lead to more students passing the class. Students did struggle with moving from drafting on their own google docs to drafting on the university’s google docs, so I cannot say that the change completely solved the issues, but it definitely helped !

Describe how your students mastered the student learning outcomes.  Were the students more successful in the redesigned course than in previous courses?  Explain.

The biggest success was in student’s ability to cogently discuss their progress, or, in some cases, lack thereof. Students engaged in reflection at four times over the course of the semester, and assessed their own commitment and work. This led to greater accountability and self-efficacy.

Did you experience unexpected results after teaching the redesigned course? If so, what were they?

Yes, I didn’t expect fewer students to earn As, though in retrospect, I should have. In the past, I used to grade students on projects and participation, which tended to result in slightly higher in class scores. This semester, I asked students to assess themselves based on the percentage of the course work they’d thoroughly completed at four different points across the semester. This change meant that only the students whose commitment to the class work was very high received As.

Assessment Findings

• Compile and upload graphs/tables/charts reflecting your findings with a short description.  You might include a course comparison of pre/post student achievements before redesign.

Share how your students achieved the learning outcomes? Describe how they mastered the learning outcomes compared to previous courses? 

In previous classes, students didn’t always hold themselves accountable, or didn’t necessarily clearly remember, how much work they’d done over the course of the semester. Through using google docs, which tracks how much writing students have done, and asking students to assess themselves at four different points over the semester, they were able to clearly see what they’d done, and if they were falling behind, make adjustments accordingly.

Student Feedback

What did your students say or how did they respond to the redesigned activities? Consider including your students’ comments about their learning.  

My students were real troopers as they tried to navigate new technoplogies. They were very positive about google docs as it eliminates the loss of their work if their personal computers crash.

Challenges my Students Encountered

VoiceThread was super glitchy this semester, which caused my students many headaches. It was really a shame because, for most of them, it was their first experience with VoiceThread, and now they associate it with frustration and wasted time.

Lessons Learned & Redesign Tips

Teaching Tips

What advice do you have for others who might want to teach with this redesigned course? (technology training and support, planning, creating learning outcomes, etc.)

Be patient with yourself and with technology, and you’ll help your students to do the same. When students face challenges with tech, validate their experiences, and encourage them to keep trying. Finally, be sure you know where to get help when technology inevitably goes awry.

Course Redesign Obstacles

What challenges did you confront and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge was working around Voice Thread, which many students had multiple problems with. I’ve used VT for a few years in my classes, and I’ve never had an entire class have problem after problem with it. I’d planned to use it for peer review, but it was so persistently crashy, and none of the solutions our technology support had worked for everyone, so I ended up going back to an in-person peer review process, which students are accustomed to, and know how to use, but I was really hoping for the online process, as it keeps a record for students to refer back to.

Strategies I Used to Increase Engagement

What pedagogical strategies did you use in your newly redesigned course to engage students?

I did a lot more “mini” conferences on student drafts, because, due to google docs,  I could more easily see what revisions students were working on, and more easily identify the kinds of help they needed. We did more drafting and research in class, so I was able to coach them more.

Instructor Reflection

• Reflect on your participation in redesigning the course, the development of an ePortfolio, and your participation in the Course Redesign  “Professional Learning Community” webinars and discipline-based meetings.

Redesigning the course was a fabulous experience, overall. While learning new technologies is obivously useful, it was even more beneficial to get to know so many of my colleagues across the CSU, and to hear about their courses and their redesigns. Being part of the PLC really added to that. Finally, I have a much better and deeper understanding of the 2025 Graduation Initiative than I would have otherwise.

• Share any plans to disseminate/publish the findings of your course redesign activity.

Along with my CRT peers at Channel Islands, I presented on using technology to increase student engagement and accountability at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in March 2017. I’m also presenting at the Online Teaching Conference in June. Additionally, I’m planning conduct some research into using technology to increase student engagement, and try to get to get more of my work published.