Best (Online) Practices for Teaching MTH Dr. Laurie Burton Mathematics Department TOTOM—September 11, 2015

Online? Last year we (WOU) offered 211 and 212 online for the first time, with 213 for fall 2015 Does anyone else offer online? Another undergrad math ed class?

Discussion 211 – online Really?

Class structure—Set up 10 weeks = 10 sections (possible combo) Each week / section has the same structure – A Forum: Initial math activity and discussion – B Forum: Lecture powerpoint and discussion – C Quiz: Activity set quiz – D Online Homework: Publisher’s site – E Written Homework – V Vocabulary Quiz: 213 only

Class structure—Exams Proctored midterm (one) Proctored final (WOU required) Proctored skills tests in 212 & 213

Who has been signing up? So far my (self-selecting) population has been fairly distinct – Single parents – Working adults (very few) – Confident math students

When is work due? "They" tell me that I should only have things due once or twice (maybe) a week in an online class. – " They" might be students I don't really recall where I heard this particular “should” I have disregarded this advice isn’t a once a week experience – 3 key due days per section – Forum responses on other days

Nitty gritty OK, so how do I really do all of this? I’ll give one thorough example and the remainder examples “lite”

(A) Math activity forum Students do a math activity Students post an answer (group forum) Students respond to other student’s answers

(A) Math activity forum That sounds great! How did it work out? 211 I found a flaw I didn’t require “correctness” (to facilitate conversation) – After all, when we ask them to share in class they aren’t required to be correct When students made errors, I would ask a question to get them to move forward – So that’s good pedagogy, how did it work out?

(A) Math activity forum Two things happened …. Some students fixed their errors Some students (rightly) noticed they were not required to respond and so they – did not!

(A) Math activity forum This means the other students in their group will read the wrong answer and never have a recourse about what the right answer is unless – I post the right answer Which, as we know, tends to shut down the conversation and thought process

(A) Math activity forum So now I … Include a correctness check First answer rating: – On time – Work shown AND fully explained – Answer complete, including images BEST PRACTICES

(A) Math activity forum To address correctness: First answer professor response: – (error) ask questions Students respond with corrections – (accurate ) responds with "correct“ Students respond with an acknowledgement

(A) Math activity forum All together (week starts Monday) – Students post answer by TUESDAY – Students post corrections by WEDNESDAY – Students post response to another student post by FRIDAY – Groups of 3 or 4 students – Who answers / responds is assigned

Keeping track I started by just filtering and sorting notifications I would want to see my students progress and I would go back through folders and back through forum threads and waste a lot of time The gradebook wasn't particularly useful if I had a forum with two ratings, I couldn't distinguish between low or incomplete

A Best Practice This is perhaps not the pedagogical best practice advice you were hoping for, but it is connected In order to implement any good pedagogy, you have to be hands on too & that creates work for you DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING TWICE

Another Best Practice I use a Google sheet to track ALL progress Device independent and easy access I can check off (for myself) student work – At my WOU office – At my home office – On my phone – On my iPad

Lesson learned is not a class where you can set up a forum, no matter how great your content / questions / prompts are and let the students “converse amongst themselves” without instructor input “Hands-off” doesn’t actually save time since you have to “hands-on” check for progress Integrating hands-on / progress check can be FAST

Lesson learned This hands-on check & track method worked beautifully in my summer EMIL course (4- week intensive, 46 students (2 sections))

And the rest …. B Forum: Lecture powerpoint and discussion – Students post answers & respond (similar to A forums, only Thursday-Friday-Sunday) Then the rest are due Sunday – C Quiz: Activity set quiz – D Online Homework: Publisher’s site – E Written Homework – V Vocabulary Quiz: 213 only

B lecture forum example

C activity set quiz Use a “write in’ activity book The quiz questions don’t make sense unless the student have done the activity set Examples:

C activity set quiz

V quiz example

A little vocabulary quiz philosophy They are not really memorizing – Do they ever? The vocabulary quizzes are timed so they do have the opportunity to learn to – fluidly access and be comfortable using their vocabulary terms V quiz example

The weekly plan

Other details Ideas for any online class – Write down all directions – Keep it as simple as possible – Require the students to talk to each other

The good stuff These classes are very accessible and these students are grateful The online environment fosters individual responsibility Every student must show their work for class activities – You can’t sit in the back and pretend to work Public sharing of work (even in small groups) tends to result in higher quality work

Some issues These students are not really having a conversation – They (perhaps?) are missing the aha! moments when another student shares a solution Student responses are minimal – 140 characters or less? I’ve lost true activity set focus and discussion in my class

Not an issue Using manipulatives – Text comes with kit Students post hand sketches Students post photographs – Virtual manipulatives Students post screenshots – Students will check out manipulatives too Geometry software – For 213 we’re using GeoGebra

Not an issue Uploading work – Students type and embed images – Students photograph hand written pages – Students scan hand written pages

Discussion 211 – online How do we get students to have a realconversation in the online environment?