Maximizing Teaching & Learning For the Short Course

Short Course Problem Overview  Inherently have problems getting students to learn required material due to their limited duration  Compounded when there are clear distinctions in the skill levels of the students taking the class

Two main questions arise:  How can course content delivery be maximized?  How can you keep more advanced students interested while still maintaining an appropriate course content level?

Class Information  CST 135, Introduction to the Internet & World Wide Web  Five-week course taught at Broome Community College  Content includes  How to use & search the Web  Discussion of ethical issues  Creation of basic Web sites

More Class Information  Skill levels range from those with no computer skills to those with a programming background & have created some Web content already  Class meets 3 hours per week in a laboratory classroom equipped with a projection unit

MethodologyMethodology

Immersion: Key to the 1st Question  Created Web site  Aside from the textbook, no paper is used  Assignments are exchanged via  Quizzes are form-based Web pages submitted to the instructor & returned via  Forces students to work in a Web environment for all phases of the course even though they’re in same room  Available outside of class

Web Site Content: Addresses the 1st Question  Designed (for the most part) to teach good design principles  Navigation methods  Page dating  Layout  Screen resolution  Displaying information in the browser title bar  etc

Web Site Content: Addresses the 1st Question  My Web pages contain these elements & serves two purposes:  Site is easier for the students to use while learning the course material  Access to standard course documents, such as Course Policy & Class Outline  Current assignments with instructions are also available  Study Guides serve as lecture tools as well as reference documents for assignments  As students repeatedly use the site, they realize why the design principles are important, making them more likely to include them in their own projects

Pedagogy Dictates I Break the Rules!  While consistency is an important feature in good Web site design, this rule wasn’t strictly enforced  Students are told up front that this was done to provide as many online examples as possible

Pedagogy Dictates I Break the Rules!  Consistency is illustrated in my design of the menu system for the Study Guides pages  All menus associated with the Study Guides use the same screen layout  While the backgrounds for each individual study guide are different, each provides a similar format  After the heading, most pages provide a topic overview followed by the details, which are organized by subtopic  Most pages not only provide sample code that can be copied and pasted to a student’s file, they also present the material using that method  See Lists screen shot  Aside from links (for navigability), each page builds on the previous topics, reinforcing their concepts

Web Site Content: Addresses the 2 nd Question

Why is keeping the interest of more advanced students considered difficult?  Common approach is to write the information for two different audiences  A better solution lies in subtlety, enhancing the way the information is presented  On the surface, Web pages look very straightforward

The Home page is menu-based providing access to all other areas of the Web site & a link to the textbook’s Web site

Study Guides teach students how to use , create a basic Web page, create a template, utilize basic HTML elements, & Tips & Tricks

Piquing Their Curiosity  Advanced techniques are embedded in most of the pages  Usually not apparent to novice students  Students are encouraged to review the source code for all the pages on the site  In fact, the first HTML lesson teaches the students how to look at a Web page’s source code  Since these screen shots are static, the more obvious advanced techniques aren’t apparent here  Play with the Web site & see what interests you 

Sample Techniques

Page Loading Effects  Home page contains a JavaScript forcing the window to open in a 800 x 600 window or smaller depending on the available screen space  JavaScript isn’t taught in this class  Opening Web pages  Links to Web pages I created open in the current browser window  Links to Web pages at remote Web sites open in a new window

Text Effects  Way of capturing the user’s attention  Implemented on both sample pages  Internet Explorer & Netscape provide different effects  These Web pages contain the code for both types:  In Internet Explorer the title scrolls across the screen  In Netscape the title blinks

Displaying Different Fonts  Need to know the font’s name  Default Web page font is Times New Roman  These pages are designed to support a range of fonts that might be installed on a user’s machine  Student can download a self-extracting Zip file containing a set of fonts designed work with the site  Instructions for installing them are provided

Displaying Special Characters  Need to know the special character’s HTML code or its numeric Unicode value  Each guide provides sample code that a student can copy & paste into a file they are creating  The advanced student will wonder how the tag brackets (<>) were displayed

Pushing Them Forward  Links are provided to more advanced resources  As I learn new techniques, they are incorporated into the Web site’s design  When I have time, I plan to add guides for creating forms & advanced use of color & links

Instructor Information  Rachel E. Hinton  Assistant Professor/Adjunct Lecturer  Broome Community College/Binghamton University   Takes you to my personal Home page which has links to this & other sites I’ve developed