Removing the Boxes John Wager and Allen Salzman Triton College

There’s NOTHING wrong with boxes! Without them, we’d be out of a job and couldn’t organize our offices! Removing the Boxes Without boxes, this is what YOUR office would look like: Francis Bacon’s studio, at the time of the artist’s death

Problems to Solve: Low initial enrollment in some online sections

Problems to Solve: Lower than expected course completion rates; higher rates of students leaving the courses

Problems to Solve: On-line student reports of feeling isolated and being unconnected with campus

Problems to Solve: Student reports of inability to finish on-campus classes due to changing work schedules or missed classes

Problems to Solve: Student difficulty reading primary sources, and often coming to on- campus class unprepared

Problems to Solve: Student reluctance to take another on-line class without some familiarity with the teacher or course content

Problems to Solve: Faculty perception of a need to help students connect knowledge in one discipline with other disciplines

Boxes of our Own Making On-Line On-Campus Students

Boxes of our Own Making On-Campus “sections” and on-line “sections” had been separate;

Solutions: 5 seats were set aside in “on-campus” sections for “on-line” students.

The daily calendar for on-campus sections was made available to on-line students so they knew exactly what their classmates were doing on any given day. The “calendar” feature of WebCT was used to link to the on-campus daily syllabus.

Faculty developed detailed printed daily calendar for the connected classes. The daily syllabus was put on-line for on-campus students. WebBoard used experimentally for on- campus students. WebCT used to offer courses to on-line students. WebCT used for both on-line and on- campus students in integrated sections. Steps to Get There:

Our registration database contained a field for “combined with” originally used for non-credit students. This was used to set aside 5 seats (of 25) for net students. Mechanics:

Results: It didn’t matter how few on-line students enrolled; even one or two students could take an on-line class.

Results: Several on-campus students reported the only way they were able to complete the term was by doing part of their work on-line. Data for on-line students is incomplete, but retention rates were higher.

Results: About 3/5 ths of the on-line students did come to their “section” to attend a class or attend a performance of a local play with their on-campus classmates.

Results: Dr. Terry Fencl, the theater professor, said “There is no such thing as an absence in my class; a student has to do the work in one place or the other.”

Results: On-line students had a large enough class to conduct discussions, and on-campus students were motivated to use the computer to communicate with on-line students.

Boxes of our Own Making Philosophy Sociology Students Students

Solutions: Ethics-Theatre-Sociology links built into each course encouraged students to see interdisciplinary connections as well as get a “preview” of other linked courses.

Results: Students reported that one of the best things about the program was the “interdisciplinary links” both on campus and on line. On-line students enrolled in another linked class with greater frequency than they enrolled in other classes.

Boxes of our Own Making Textbooks Web Resources

Solutions: A “guided tutorial” for the readings was set up, especially for ethics.

More like “tutorial” than hypertext Doesn’t require constant faculty response Tracks detailed picture of student reading Guided Readings

Results: On-line students showed a much better grasp of difficult readings than on-campus students as measured by the quizzes given to both.

Removing the Boxes ON-Campus -- On-Line Boxes Ethics -- Theater Courses On-Line Resources -- Textbook

Removing the Boxes Ethics -- Theater Courses On-Line Resources -- Textbook

Removing the Boxes On-Line Resources -- Textbook

Removing the Boxes John Wager and Allen Salzman Triton College