1. Using SharePoint in a flipped classroom
Dr Elliot Freeman, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
With the current trend of ever-increasing undergraduate student numbers, individual students can become lost in the crowd, while the assessment workload makes it difficult to provide sufficient feedback on their performance. In this session I will share my experience of implementing one possible ‘flipped classroom’ solution to this, empowered by ’SharePoint’ technology.
To reduce workload I replaced some traditional exam essays on my second-year Visual Perception module with short-answer questions; to coach students on this new format and increase engagement, I provided new weekly workshops. In these workshops students discussed and then co-authored practice answers to short-answer questions based on topics introduced in the previous lecture. After a brief class discussion of the topic, students collaborated in small groups, writing their answer into a single SharePoint Word document. This document was easy for students to access and edit in a web-browser. The document was projected to the front of the class and updated in real time, then discussed in class and if necessary revised. SharePoint enabled different groups to work simultaneously on different answers, and to then get instant feedback that could be shared around the class. The resulting final document was then shared weekly to all students on the module as a comprehensive set of model exam answers.
These sessions were fun and highly productive, and students loved it (as evidenced by their module evaluations). They provided a regular opportunity for focused revision, plus formative feedback and exam skills training. I found that the time invested in these seminars paid back as a reduction of marking, better exam performance in those who attended, and higher student engagement and satisfaction.
Dr Elliot Freeman
Senior Lecturer in Psychology

2. Problems Ever increasing student numbers Desirable But…
Students lost in the crowd
Challenging to provide sufficient individual guidance and feedback
Poorer performance, demotivation and lower student satisfaction,
Poorer student survey ratings for feedback quality and ’sense of community’
Desirable
Smaller group teaching with individual contact with students
Communal activities
rapid formative feedback and guidance for improved performance
meaningful assessments for fast grading
But…
With ever increasing undergraduate student numbers, individual students can become lost in the crowd, while the assessment workload makes it challenging for lecturers to provide sufficient individual guidance and feedback on students' performance. This may lead to poorer performance, demotivation and lower student satisfaction, evidenced by lower student survey ratings for feedback quality and ’sense of community'.

3. that all sounds like more work!

4. ‘flipped Sharepoint classroom’
Traditional lecture
+ Short-answer question assessment
+ ‘SharePoint’ workshops
Collaborative groupwork
Task: answer SAQ’s
Instant feedback and sharing
High-quality model answers
Guided revision / exam practice
In this presentation I will share my experience of implementing one possible ‘flipped classroom’ approach to addressing these problems, using (1) short-answer questions combined with (2) collaborative group-work empowered by ’SharePoint’ technology. Microsoft Sharepoint provides a cloud-based platform for co-editing a shared document, with instant synchronisation across users.

5. Context 2018: Programme-wide assessment changes Challenges
Avoid redundant assessments
Before: class test and exam
Now: Either coursework or exam
Challenges
Probe sufficient breadth and depth in a single assessment
Maintain student engagement
Combine different assessment styles
The present innovations came about in the context of a programme-wide change of assessments for BSc Psychology.
The aim was to avoid redundant assessments, and marking workload, by requiring only one assessment per module, rather than coursework plus an exam.
This created the challenge of probing taught material with sufficient breadth and depth. For exam-only modules students might tend to question-pick and skip lectures, if there is no interim class assessment.

6. Module PS2002
To reduce assessment workload I replaced some of the traditional exam essays on my second-year Visual Perception module with a set of guided short-answer questions.

7. Short-answer questions (SAQ)
SAQ (‘mini essays’)
- Probe understanding of broad range of specific topics
Suited to technical topics
- Demands concise and informative writing
Relevant to longer assessment formats
Transferable skills: professional writing and communication
- Very fast to grade
SAQ mini-essays provide an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of broad range of specific topics, and answers can be graded very rapidly. The emphasis on conciseness and informativeness exercises academic skills that are relevant to longer assessment formats, and are transferable to professional writing and teaching.

8. students’ answer, written in class
Sharepoint workshops
Format and session objectives
Weekly small-group workshops
Practice unfamiliar SAQ format
Guide revision of specific topics
Outcomes
Practice exam technique
Embed understanding
Increase student engagement
To coach students on this unfamiliar format and increase student engagement, I provided weekly Sharepoint workshops. In these workshops students discussed and then co-authored practice answers to sample short-answer questions based on topics introduced in the previous lecture. After a brief class discussion of the topic, students collaborated in small teams under my supervision, writing their answers into a single SharePoint Word document. This document was easy for students to access from a Moodle weblink, and edit in a web-browser. It was continually projected to the front of the class, and updated in real time. SharePoint enabled each team to work simultaneously on a separate part of the document, and to then get instant feedback that could be shared around the class. When complete, each team’s contribution was read out and discussed with the class, with critical attention to its content, clarity and conciseness; if necessary it could then be then quickly revised. The resulting final document was shared weekly to all students on the module, providing a set of high-quality model answers. Thus non-attending students could benefit too, while witnessing the potential advantages that could be enjoyed by participating more actively.
students’ answer, written in class

9. Sharepoint workshops Protocol Divide class into groups (3-5 students)
Present each SAQ on screen and briefly discuss
Each group answers one question, under supervision
All edit the same document
Projected to front of class
Feedback to group, revise text,
Present text to class and discuss
Share to all students on module
To coach students on the unfamiliar SAQ format and increase student engagement, I provided weekly Sharepoint workshops. In these workshops students discussed and then co-authored practice answers to sample short-answer questions based on topics introduced in the previous lecture. After a brief class discussion of the topic, students collaborated in small teams under my supervision, writing their answers into a single SharePoint Word document. This document was easy for students to access from a Moodle weblink, and edit in a web-browser. It was continually projected to the front of the class, and updated in real time. SharePoint enabled each team to work simultaneously on a separate part of the document, and to then get instant feedback that could be shared around the class. When complete, each team’s contribution was read out and discussed with the class, with critical attention to its content, clarity and conciseness; if necessary it could then be then quickly revised. The resulting final document was shared weekly to all students on the module, providing a set of high-quality model answers. Thus non-attending students could benefit too, while witnessing the potential advantages that could be enjoyed by participating more actively.

10. Setting up the shared document
Locate file in your OneDrive
Share file
Allow editing
Copy link

11. Setting up the shared document
Post link to Moodle forum
Display and co-edit in class

12. Outcomes Time invested paid back Better exam performance *
Better module evaluations
Greater student engagement
Reduced marking
High-quality model exam answers, written by students for students
only a sub-sample of workshop attendees who were identified
I found that the time invested in these seminars paid back by reducing marking, while improving exam performance in those who attended, and increasing student engagement and satisfaction. It is hoped that co-learning methods like this, if rolled out more widely, will promote a more interactive and sociable culture of learning and a stronger sense of community.

13. Module evaluations

15. Reflection Enjoyable and productive sessions Sharepoint facilitates
More fun than lectures!
Sharepoint facilitates
rapid co-authoring
instant feedback
sharing of high-quality model answers to whole class
Opportunity for team building and social interaction
may reinforce culture of participation and engagement
may improve ‘Learning Community’ ratings on USS
output demonstrates to non-attendees the potential benefits of participating more
Practicability
Short-answer questions maybe better for technical topics
Not every student needs a device if they work in teams
Perhaps best for medium-sized groups
Could in principle scale up to larger classrooms / lecture theatres
e.g. several teams could compete to produce best answer to the same question