Karen Swan presented the keynote address, “Taking Learning to the Next Level: Using Assessment and Technology,” to set the focus of the institute.
Swan, a faculty member in the Center for Educational Technology at Kent State, highlighted some of the critical decisions educators must make to incorporate assessment when designing a course that integrates technology. Participants came away with a framework for designing an assignment and selecting the most appropriate technology tools to facilitate and evaluate student learning.
Unlike traditional curriculum development in which assessment tool choices are left to the end, Swan discussed “backwards design” in which assessment rubrics are created at the beginning of a course's development.
“An instructor first needs to define a learning goal. The next decision is what evidence is needed to assess that goal--the specific understandings, knowledge and skills that students should demonstrate to show they have met the goal,” Swan said.
Second, instructors must create assessment rubrics. “The assessment rubric helps evaluate the learning goal identified,” she said.
Finally, a plan for the teaching and learning experience is defined. When technology will be used, this decision should be based on evaluations of which of the available technologies can most effectively achieve the goal.
“Once an instructor completes this 'backwards design' process, the most appropriate technology for the designated goal should be clear,” Swan said.
UD faculty showcase
Following the keynote, UD faculty members discussed their personal experience using emerging technologies with instruction.
Lou Rossi, associate professor of mathematical sciences, discussed his project, “Electronic Collaboration Enhances Student Skills,” which he designed for a calculus course of 100 students. Because this large group had a broad range of mathematical skills, it was difficult to teach effectively using one approach, he said.
For many students, one unavoidable hurdle in a mathematics course is word problems. “To solve these problems, students must learn which of the variables to select and how to integrate them to calculate an answer,” Rossi said.
Rossi had groups of students write their own word problems based on their declared major and the selection of a photo from a photographic collection that Rossi compiled. Grouping students by major provided a secondary source of educational reinforcement--biology students wrote problems related to biology whereas chemistry students wrote problems related to chemistry.
“The students were not just people who are assigned a word problem, they got to write them,” Rossi said.
The project greatly increased the students understanding of the course material. “Our assessment showed an increase from 39 percent to 65 percent in understanding the concepts,” Rossi said.
Ann Rucinski, an instructor in health, nutrition and exercise sciences, made a presentation on “Using Electronic Portfolios with Nutrition and Dietetics Interns,” a project developed for a post-baccalaureate fifth-year internship program that is offered nationwide through distance learning.
Previously, students in this program kept written journals. The written journals were replaced with e-portfolios that included reflective journaling. The benefits of the e-portfolios included documentation for accreditation, a connection between the students and internship faculty and staff and the support that comes from a project designed specifically for the internship.
“Most of all, the benefit was enhanced learning,” Rucinski said. “You really do need to have and to use technology to make a distance learning program work,” she said.
Mary Beth Kramer, a supplemental faculty member in chemistry and biochemistry, shared her work on the project “Simulating a Chemistry Lab.” For approximately 10 years an important chemistry experiment had been withdrawn from the curriculum because of safety concerns if done in a lab. Therefore, the physical lab experiment was no longer available to students.
“Unfortunately, this experiment has significant conceptual contributions to student learning,” Kramer said.
To reintroduce the experiment into the curriculum, Kramer and Becky Kinney, IT-User Services, created a simulated lab using Adobe Flash.
Assessment was built into the project on three levels:
- Students are graded on the virtual lab just as if it were actually conducted in a chemistry lab;
- Efficacy of the simulation and student understanding of the concepts are assessed through personal response systems (classroom clickers); and
- Students will be given an evaluation and survey to determine how they feel about the simulation.
The simulation was completed during fall semester and will be used in the upcoming semester.
“I hope that by reintroducing this virtual experiment, we will help students integrate many important core concepts of chemistry,” Kramer said.
To view all sessions offered during the institute this month, visit [www.present.udel.edu/calendar/index.php?month=01&year=08].
For more information about the institute, visit [www.udel.edu/present/winter/index.html].
The Winter Faculty Institute is a month-long series of events designed to enhance teaching and learning using technology. The institute is co-sponsored by the University of Delaware Library, Center for Teaching Effectiveness, Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education, Office of Educational Assessment, IT-User Services and the College of Arts and Sciences.
Article by Suzanne Nanis
Photo by Kathy Atkinson
