The Role of Lecture in Course Redesign Lori Van Wallendael UNC Charlotte Department of Psychology

Special thanks to my partners in the PSYC 1101 General Psychology Redesign: Bill Siegfried Sue Spaulding

Our Challenges Large course sections (typically 300 students) Mostly first-year students Often unprepared for college-level work Not very engaged in learning Reluctant to take responsibility for their own learning

Hybrid Format Replaced one of two face-2-face meetings each week with online activities, media assignments, quizzes, & practice exams

Why We Did It Encourage student responsibility for learning More efficient use of resources (space) Serve more students

What We Learned During the Pilot Semester Students will see the face-to-face portion of class as optional unless you require attendance Students chase points, not knowledge Students are not technologically sophisticated! Working on ones own does not necessarily equate to taking increased responsibility

In Class Had to make class time relevant but not redundant Letting go is hard to do – combined, we have 85 years experience teaching Introductory Psychology Learning a new way of teaching is invigorating

Modifications to face-to-face component of course Try to rely less on lecture Use clicker quizzes to reward attendance and preparation More classroom demonstrations Use of YouTube and popular TV clips (House MD, Big Bang Theory, The Office), sometimes tied to clicker quizzes

Covering a chapter in 75 minutes of face-to-face time What is not already being covered in online activities? What works better in a large group format than in an online setting? What concepts do students find most difficult?

Our opportunity Online component of course included media assignments, chapter tests, study plans Work due BEFORE we cover a chapter in face- to-face class So, data on student success on chapter tests could become a guide for what we needed to cover in greater depth in the face-to-face meetings

Chapter tests provide great clues

An example: Chapter 6 (Memory) My original plan: Define stages of memory Eyewitness memory demonstration (video) Short term memory span test Encoding specificity; levels of processing Serial position effect False memory demonstration Mnemonics, visualization

Request student performance data on Chapter 6 questions

An example: Chapter 6 (Memory) My revised plan: Define stages of memory Eyewitness memory demonstration (video) Recognition Short term memory span test Recall Encoding specificity; levels of processing Serial position effect False memory demonstration Recall Mnemonics, visualization Clicker quiz on recognition/recall

Student Outcomes Two hybrid sections and one traditional section were included in the Spring 2011 pilot. Three hybrid sections, 1 traditional section, and one online section were offered in Fall Comparisons were made in performance and course satisfaction across all formats

Grade Distribution DFW – Grade of D or F or Withdrawn ABCDFW Spring 2011 Fall 2011 Spring 2011 Fall 2011 Hybrid69% 31% Traditional76%72%24%28% Online83%76%17%24% The Friday section of the Hybrid course in both Spring and Fall performed significantly below the traditional, other hybrid, or online sections. The students beginning GPA in the Friday section was significantly below the other sections.

Exam Performance, 2 best unit exams and comprehensive final exam, Fall 2011

Performance on core items in common final exam – Fall 2011 ONLINEONLINE TRADTRAD HYBRIDFHYBRIDF HYBRIDWHYBRIDW HYBRIDMHYBRIDM

Why the online advantage? More juniors and seniors (44%) in the online course; mostly freshmen in the hybrid (68%) and traditional (59%) courses Students in the online course had higher average gpa (2.97) than students in the hybrid (2.66) or traditional (2.83) sections

Does lecture still matter?

Does being PREPARED for lecture really matter?

Student Satisfaction HybridTraditionalOnline N = 492N = 218N = 61 MPL contributed to my success in course?69%46%57% Recommend MPL to friends, other students?67%57%64% Wish other Psychology professors used MPL?53%45%53% MPL added value to this course?69%51%64% Compared to traditional format, like hybrid?49%NANA

Advice We Might Offer Need for DETAILED tutorials for students Need reliable technology support Need to be creative in getting TA help Expect lower evaluations during the development phase of the redesign But have fun with it! Especially if you can work with colleagues, youll learn a lot.