Presented By: Jay Holden & Adena Rottenstein Creating an Interdisciplinary Collection of Learning Objects to Address Basic Skills

The Challenge Undergraduate students enter the University with different levels of academic training Undergraduate students enter the University with different levels of academic training Success in undergraduate education demands a solid foundation in a variety of basic academic skills Success in undergraduate education demands a solid foundation in a variety of basic academic skills How can we work towards leveling the playing field? How can we work towards leveling the playing field? Writing skills Working in Groups Classroom Presentations Study skills Examples:

The Solution Players: “Michigan Education through Learning Objects” (MELO) Players: “Michigan Education through Learning Objects” (MELO)  Faculty, Staff, & Graduate Students from gateway courses  Interdisciplinary (Statistics, Chemistry, Romance Languages, etc.) Resource: Online learning materials, or Learning Objects (LOs) accessed through MERLOT.org Resource: Online learning materials, or Learning Objects (LOs) accessed through MERLOT.org Outcome: Create an interdisciplinary collection of LOs that address basic skills Outcome: Create an interdisciplinary collection of LOs that address basic skills

Audience Participation Break up into groups of 2-3 Break up into groups of 2-3 Introduce yourself & your academic discipline Introduce yourself & your academic discipline Work together to come up with 3 basic/foundational academic skills that Work together to come up with 3 basic/foundational academic skills that Are critical for academic success Are critical for academic success Students commonly lack Students commonly lack Apply across various disciplines Apply across various disciplines

Members independently brainstorm interdisciplinary basic academic skills Members independently brainstorm interdisciplinary basic academic skills The MELO group meets to collectively discuss the findings The MELO group meets to collectively discuss the findings Results: (next slide) Results: (next slide) The Process I Brainstorming Brainstorming

Math SkillsStudy Skills  Fractions, Basic Algebra, Pre- calculus How to read & take notes on a chapter  General Statistics concepts Exam Preparation  Graphing, Interpreting Graphs Communication & Group Work  Representing data in various forms  Group dynamics Scientific Method  Communication with-in groups Understanding a scientific experiment Problem Solving Strategies Using different research methods  Critical Thinking Writing Skills  Systematic Problem Solving  Complete structured sentences, etc. Presentation Skills  Writing a group report Creating an effective presentation  References Delivering an effective presentation  In-text Citations PowerPoint Skills

The Process II Searching & Posting Search (independently) for LOs to address the areas of greatest need Search (independently) for LOs to address the areas of greatest need Create a group website for posting search results and composing LO commentary Create a group website for posting search results and composing LO commentary Submit individual LO findings to website with commentary Submit individual LO findings to website with commentary

Collaborate in Selection Collaborate in Selection 1.Review preliminary collection 2.Establish inter-rater reliability with reviewer scorings 3.Select best LOs for the final collection Which LOs were selected for the final collection? Which LOs were selected for the final collection? –4.25 star rated LOs and above –Overlapping LOs (found & posted by multiple reviewers) –LOs applicable to at least three academic disciplines The Process III Selecting

The Outcome An Interdisciplinary Collection of LOs to Address Basic Skills 17 LOs 17 LOs 6 Categories 6 Categories –Mathematics –Sciences –Technology –Writing –Interactive –General

Example LO from the Collection

Deployment Gateway courses Gateway courses Graduate Student Instructor trainings Graduate Student Instructor trainings Faculty workshops Faculty workshops MERLOT- MERLOT- Personal Collection Title: Cross-Discipline Collection: BASIC SKILLS Username: 2009 MERLOT International Conference 2009 MERLOT International Conference 2009 MERLOT International Conference 2009 MERLOT International Conference

Results & Future Results: Results: –Interdisciplinary Collection of LOs established and in use –Faculty development for participating graduate students Future: Future: –Several more disciplines have joined the group (Physics, Math, Writing, etc.) –A second generation of the collection is in the works

Thank You! Cathy SwiftBrian Malley Lynne CrandallVictor Wong Nancy KernerBrenda Gunderson MELO Group And last but not least, the MERLOT Community! Without YOU this would not have been possible. Contact: Jay Holden: & Adena Rottenstein: