Carl Sherwood - School of Economics. Transitioning a course to be fully online: tips for implementation and engagement Carl Sherwood - School of Economics.

Transitioning a course to fully online. Intended Session Objectives. 1. Not suggesting all courses go online! 2. Making it happen – tips and personal insights. 3. Case study on ECON1310 – my experiences. 4. Not just online content – learning package. 5. Next moves for your course? 6. Tweet experiences on twitter via #UQTLWeek17

Transitioning a course to fully online It’s about you: 1. What course do you have in mind? 2. What are you are hoping to learn here today?

Transitioning a course to be fully online Session Outline – transitioning stages. 1. Testing the water. initial steps in transitioning (20 minutes) Water too hot, too cold, or just right? time to take stock (10 minutes) 3. Time to jump in – go fully online. completing the transition (10 minutes). 4. Questions and discussion (10 minutes)

Testing the water With ECHO360, aren’t courses already online?

Testing the water CHOICE Course design is the key, not just going online (pedagogy, student learning outcomes). CHOICE action learning peer learning integration and alignment feedback blended learning

Testing the water ECON1310: large first year, introductory service statistics course, 800 students sem1, 400 students sem 2. Students = economics, business, engineering, arts, law, science students. Diverse learning needs.

Testing the water - a scholarly approach Research question (2013): How can first year statistics students’ learning experience be supported to engage them in statistical thinking? ‘My brain stops functioning by the 2nd hour!’ Sem1, 2013, adopt blended learning approach, L5-L6, introduce YouTube videos. What did I learn?

Two key assumptions challenged. Lecturers/tutors = only people who can teach Students can help each other learn. versus 1. Students prefer assessment after they learn Students prefer assessment as they learn. versus 2. Result: sem 2, 2013 (not lecturer), learning sequence changed.

ECON1310: what existed prior to 2013. Lectures (weeks 1 & 2) Tutorials (weeks 2 & 3) PASS (weeks 3 & 4) CML quiz (week 4) ECON1310: things changed in sem2, 2013. Lectures (weeks 1 & 2) Tutorials PASS CML (weeks 2 & 3) Students choose learning activity order that works best for them!

Practical strategy 1 (from lessons learnt). Think about assumptions made for student learning in your course. Good enough OK when testing the water. Don’t bite off more than you can chew (start small, reduce chances of a things blowing up!) Technology moves fast, rate of obsolescence (think about the amount you will invest)

Discussion: Practical strategy 1. Q1: What assumptions have you made about student learning in your course? Q2: What learning issue(s) will you address by transitioning to online? eg: CHOICE, self regulated learning, where and when learning materials are accessed (Zimmerman, 2002; Cassidy, 2011; Hodge et al., 2011). eg: CMLs online assessments provide continuous feedback during the assessment process, so that assessment is the learning, not simply a test of what was supposedly learnt (Sadler ,1983).

2. Water too hot, too cold, or just right? Keep taking stock…..think about evaluation. Action Learning Cycle reflect plan act evaluate Incrementalism rather than a giant leap of faith? Conservative?

Hits on video links using Blackboard, sem1, 2013. closes Quiz closes Quiz opens opens Quantitative courses – learning by doing – sport analogy Practice and get help with thing you can’t do well 1st attempt CML2: 28 March to 12 April, 2013. Video content relevant.  2nd attempt CML2: 15 – 17 April, 2013.

Incremental, evaluate, scholarly approach sem1, 2014 blended learning L5-L8 sem1, 2015 blended learning L5-L10 sem1, 2016 blended learning L5-L12 “Assessing the impact of blended learning on student performance.” (Kwak, Menezes, and Sherwood, 2015) “Who should (still) attend lectures and tutorials.” (Kwak, Sherwood, and Tang, 2016) “New insights into and old problem – enhancing student learning outcomes in an introductory statistics course.” (Sherwood and Kwak, 2017) “Class Attendance and Learning Outcome.” (Kwak, Sherwood, and Tang, 2017 under review)

Video views – student use of learning resources. End sem1, 2015, almost 100,000 YouTube views for 6 blended lectures. Average 16,500 views per blended lecture, with average of 9 videos per lecture. Mostly accessed before or after lecture, working on CML quizzes, final exam revision. Evidence convinced me students were engaging with videos to match their ‘just-in-time’ learning needs.

Ongoing student evaluation measures (performance, satisfaction, retention) N = total number of students with a grade + those with special exams + those withdrawing

Survey questions in fortnightly CMLs (sem1, 2017) a. Very helpful b. Helpful c. Partly helpful d. Not helpful

Practical strategy 2 (from lessons learnt). Aim to grow in confidence, meeting students’ needs. Action Learning – with a focus on evaluation. Value student feedback. They can be brutally honest, which is what you need to see if things are working!

Discussion: Practical strategy 2. learning design student learning outcomes feedback 1. What evaluation approaches will you use? 2. How much effort will you invest in evaluation? 3. How patient can you afford to be?

3. Time to jump in – go fully online Summer 2016 – first fully online course offering (no PASS or tutorials offered). Sem 1, 2017 – option to enrol LIVE or ONLINE lectures (PASS and tutorials offered). Sem 2, 2017 – course fully online, no live lectures (PASS and tutorials offered). ECON1310 now has three different offerings per year. Confident end product/course design meeting diverse student learning needs.

Lessons Learnt Create a learning design that works for students. Keep it simply, don’t overinvest at first – rate of obsolesce of technology. With experience comes confidence. Opportunities to work with others (Uqx, Wiley).

Practical strategy 3. Convinced course design positively impacts student learning outcomes take the plunge! Ensure support from HOS, ADA etc (additional funding?) Involve others, use their expertise in creating a functional website.

Discussion: Practical strategy 3. Do your current course learning activities need “tweaking” to make the transition? How long are you prepared to take to have your course online?

Concluding thoughts. Students (not the lecturer) are the key. Take a scholarly approach – what student learning issue is being addressed? Work with well tested course learning activities. Start simple, evaluate ideas incrementally. Then……..

…… anything is possibe! https://www.google.com.au/search?q=monkey+japan+hot+springs

Questions and Discussion