University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS NCAT Course Redesign Introduction to Psychology David J Echevarria

David J Echevarria : Social Sciences 2 Introduction General education requirement 1200 annual enrollment 3 sections per semester (plus summer) Course is traditional F2F in a large room with some use of technology Redesign will reduce the number of faculty assigned to teach this course Pilot Spring 2009, revised version Fall 2009

David J Echevarria : Social Sciences 3 Faculty and Administrative Support Initial faculty reception was mixed If it ain’t broke don’t fix it Been there done that Change means work Support of colleagues on the redesign team Chair, Dean, Provost, IT folks

David J Echevarria : Social Sciences 4 Faculty and Administrative Support Securing a suitable lecture hall Rooms for laboratory sections Are these rooms equipped for the redesign? Course listing and credit hours

David J Echevarria : Social Sciences 5 Technology We are also using an interactive e-textbook –Blackboard –Cengage –Online testing –Many challenges with data collection and communication between technologies –Steep learning curve for students –Training for faculty is crucial

David J Echevarria : Social Sciences 6 Technology We supplement the larger lecture with lab groups of about 20 students –On line exercises –Videos –Software simulations

David J Echevarria : Social Sciences 7 Staffing the Redesign 1 faculty member for lecture (300 students) 3 graduate TA’s –Blackboard –Data –Supervising peer instructors 10 undergraduate peer instructors –Recruited top performers –These folks run the lab sections –They receive course credit and gain experience “teaching” which can be documented in a letter of recommendation for graduate school