Faculty Instructional Support Moving beyond putting courses online to curriculum redesign Leila Lyons, University of Delaware

The numbers tell a story, but what story?

College of Engineering Number of Courses Using WebCT Civil/ Environmental Materials Science Electrical /Computer Mechanical Chemical 2000 (F) Fall 2001 (W) Winter 2001 (S) Spring 2001 (J) Summer 2001 (F) Fall 2002 (W) Winter 2002 (S) Spring 2002 (J) Summer 2002 (F) Fall

College of Arts and Sciences: Arts and Humanities Number of Courses Using WebCT French Art Music Art History Arts/Science Languages Philosophy English 2000 (F) Fall 2001 (W) Winter 2001 (S) Spring 2001 (J) Summer 2001 (F) Fall 2002 (W) Winter 2002 (S) Spring 2002 (J) Summer 2002 (F) Fall Italian Spanish

Arts & Science: Natural Sciences and Mathematics Number of Courses Using WebCT Linguistics Science/Culture Statistics Computer/Info. Science Chem/Biochem Psychology Geography Geology Mathematics Biology 2000 (F) Fall 2001 (W) Winter 2001 (S) Spring 2001 (J) Summer 2001 (F) Fall 2002 (W) Winter 2002 (S) Spring 2002 (J) Summer 2002 (F) Fall

Three scenarios where adoption has been high Chemical Engineering  Department chair mandates adoption Foreign Languages and Literature  Spanish requires WebCT for grading Spanish Intro.  FL&L has 2 IT professionals skilled in pedagogy Biology  Several faculty interested in curricular change through problem based learning

An observation on stimuli for course redesign Lacking institution wide assessment, more course redesign appears to take place among faculty with  Sustained interest in PBL (ITUE members)  Willingness to invest significant time on course redesign Example: Biology faculty involved in introductory courses (were PEW grant applicants)

Consortium Study Main goal: determine whether or not web use changes the way faculty member teaches in the classroom 9 institutions of Learning Technology Consortium participated 56 online responses 38 in-depth interviews

Research Goals Purpose: To learn from faculty with experience using the Web for instruction:  How does its use change what happens in the classroom?  What is the impact of any changes?  What is the Web’s potential for enhancing instruction?  What support services are needed to facilitate reaching that potential?

Faculty Participants Identified by LTC Representatives  “ Experienced” Web Users: having taught a Web-enhanced course for no less than four (4) semesters  Using “rich” Web instruction: content (text, graphics, audio or video) interaction (activities, quizzes, etc.) and communication ( , discussion, and/or group work)  “Reflective”: able to articulate thoughtful, reflective insights into teaching and learning in their classrooms  Variety in disciplines

Study Summary Faculty are reporting less change than we anticipated Changes reported have potential for significant impact on student learning  Increased interaction among students and between students and instructors  Higher expectations and higher level instruction  Better organized courses  Better prepared faculty and students

PI’s observation Faculty who are not exposed to pedagogy use a CMS:  For "efficiencies" such as easy access to course materials online  Do not substantially change the way they teach Faculty who understand pedagogy are more apt to  Use CMS to make better use of space and time  These faculty change their teaching style

Elements of an environment that encourages both Pedagogy and Technology Adoption Partnerships Faculty Development/Encouragement Institutional Support Support Staff  Central  Departmental Robust Technological Infrastructure

Partnerships Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education (ITUE) Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education (ITUE) General Education Initiative Written and Oral Communications Task Force (WOC-TF) Written and Oral Communications Task Force (WOC-TF)

ITUE Fellow describes use of WebCT Communication Tools Faculty member skilled in both PBL and WebCT Led class through a problem on justice for the terrorists Used online groups in class to address the problem

Faculty Encouragement

“Faculty friendly”

Showcase Faculty Work

Institutional Support Elements of grant proposalgrant proposal

Course Redesign Projects Biology Education Consumer Studies Plant and Soil Science Psychology ITUE – small projects

ITUE Small Projects Small grants of staff and student time Awarded to ITUE fellows 2 examples:  Harry Shipman and E-labs for Physics  John Deiner and Online Newspaper for Political Science

E-labs in Physics

Online Newsletter for Politics of Developing Nations Students learn by doing Study contemporary economic, political and social issues in Third World Take on collaborative roles and produce a newsletter Research on the web and publish on the web

Central Support Half of IT support staff have masters degrees in education Wide range of skills—programming, digital media specialist, graphics, Course Management Systems expertise. Instructional designer Form support teams for projects with Librarians and Center for Teaching Effectiveness staff

Departmental Support Chemical Engineering

Lessons Learned Numbers do not tell the whole story To change the curriculum, need to change how faculty perceive teaching and learning Infuse the campus culture with a variety of ways for faculty to learn about pedagogy and to reinforce that learning Faculty readiness is one of the major factors to consider

Let’s discuss …. How much extra effort can faculty be expected to put out for emerging technologies such as course management systems? Should the first line of CMS support be at the departmental level, like desktop computing support is in many places?