91探花

Dr. Philipsen, professor of Communication at 91探花Seattle, has taught at the 91探花 for more than 30 years and now teaches two online courses 鈥� 鈥淚ntroduction to Communication II鈥� (COM 202) and 鈥淐ultural Codes in Communication鈥� (COM 484). He sees pros and cons to both the online and face-to-face class formats, but has carefully developed his online courses to cultivate student engagement and learner success.

Benefits for students: 鈥淭he self-paced format (at least of my courses) provides an alternative pacing that some students find to be helpful. Student time is devoted exclusively to learning rather than transportation to and from campus. I do not see any negatives for students, which is not to say that online courses are equivalent in every way to other formats, only that for some courses this is a perfectly suitable way to learn the material.鈥�

Benefits for the instructor: 鈥淥pportunities to earn extra income; to reach students you would not otherwise reach; and to develop courses in a format that is quite focused, in terms of setting out readings, materials, and experiences, without having to adapt to a physical classroom and the presence of people interacting in that space. I am a great fan of meeting face-to-face, but face-to-face also has its downsides, and my online classes eliminate those downsides.鈥�

Is online equivalent to face-to-face? 鈥淚t depends on the given student and the course material.鈥�

Advice: 鈥淚 specifically developed my courses so that they would intensify student engagement with the required readings, and this was extremely successful. I did not pay attention to getting students to interact with each other, but rather zeroed in on getting students engaged with the text, and in a very powerful way. However, in each of my two courses, there is one assignment in which the students must interact with other people as part of the course assignment. I would advise faculty initiating online courses to try to develop the ways that facilitate the intensive engagement with text (broadly defined) and not to feel they must use newish technologies, some of which distract from serious engagement with text. I am, of course, a bit of a throwback, but this has worked very well for me 鈥� and for my students! At the same time, I do use, to very good effect, some videos, that the students can view at their leisure and, as necessary, re-view.鈥�

Links: Dr. Philipsen鈥檚 faculty

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Dr. Jenkins, an assistant professor in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at 91探花Seattle, uses a variety of technology tools, including the Canvas learning management system and portable response systems using 鈥榗lickers鈥� to enhance her introductory course 鈥淪ociety and the Oceans鈥� (SMEA/SIS/ENVIR 103).

Value of Canvas: Dr. Jenkins says she likes the Gradebook feature of Canvas because 鈥渋t鈥檚 not too complicated.鈥� Her students 鈥渒now all the time where they are, what their grade is at that point in the quarter. It is super helpful.鈥�

Clickers: 鈥淯sing clickers is a way of keeping students engaged and making class more active. You can see that when they use them it causes a bit of a reboot, and they get more energy. I also use the clickers for my midterm and final review and that helps students see where they stand with the rest of the class. Also I can see, okay, for this particular lecture, students really don鈥檛 have a strong understanding of this concept or that concept, and that tells me I need to dig in more here.鈥�

Flipping the classroom: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 do basic content delivery in my classes. I think that鈥檚 really a waste of students鈥� time. They can sit down and read about and understand definitions and all of those things. The next step is: so what, who cares, and how does this change the way you operate in the world? It鈥檚 really just about giving content to the students ahead of class in such a way that they can do higher-level Bloom鈥檚 type learning objectives with it and apply that synthesis when they come to class.鈥�

Advice: 鈥淕o to workshops! The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) hosts the at the beginning of each year. And what鈥檚 wonderful is you鈥檙e meeting other professors who are using these technologies at UW, and you鈥檙e hearing their pros and cons as opposed to the ideal. Because the reality and the ideal are different. People say if you do active learning then all of these fabulous things are going to happen 鈥� yes and no, you鈥檙e also going to hit roadblocks. So it is good to know in advance what the reality is, and to hear from someone else: how difficult was this, are you glad you did all of these things at the same time, what would you recommend? I think that鈥檚 invaluable for deciding which things you want to start with. And then go slowly.鈥�

Links: Dr. Jenkins鈥� faculty

More information on Bloom鈥檚 Taxonomy of Learning Objectives (origin, 1956; revised 2000): and

Dr. Jenkins has participated in this NSF-supported project, which seeks to reform and transform undergraduate biology education by training postdoctoral scholars in innovative and engaging active learning techniques

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Ms. Haynie, a statistics lecturer in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences department at 91探花Tacoma, is teaching the first online math classes at the Tacoma campus, with one section of pre-calculus, and another of section of introductory statistics. She notes, 鈥淎s most people would agree, math is a tricky subject, and we knew it would be a challenge.鈥�

Keeping students on track: She has been piloting a tool called Persistence Plus, which gives students electronic 鈥榥udges鈥� via their mobile device 鈥� about due dates, upcoming quizzes and exams, and motivational text messages. She says, 鈥淭he initial set up was not too difficult.鈥�

Student reactions: 鈥淚 have only heard positive feedback from students. Many students said they found the reminders about due dates to be extremely helpful, and the other thing they specifically mentioned loving were the motivational texts. It gave them a little boost to study harder, or go find a study group to meet with.鈥�

Access: 鈥淲ith a growing number of military personnel and older students returning to earn a degree, we felt it was critical to offer them a variety of options to fit their schedules and lifestyles.鈥�

Advice: 鈥淛ust try it! It doesn鈥檛 have to be permanent, and if you try it and decide your students don鈥檛 benefit from it, then you can scratch it.鈥�

Links: Educause Review online article about the pilot, 鈥溾��, by Tracey Haynie, Jill Frankfort, Kenneth Salim, and Colleen Carmean

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Dr. McKinley, an associate professor of Psychology in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences department at 91探花Tacoma, was a 2012 Tech Fellow and taught 鈥淟ifespan Development鈥� (TPSYCH 220) as a hybrid course in 2012. She says: 鈥淔or me, this was an intermediate step toward learning to do it online鈥� and as of winter quarter 2013, she is teaching the course completely online. She adds that she plans to convert her class 鈥淏ody Image and the Psychology of Appearance鈥� (TPSYCH 405) to a hybrid course next year.

Benefits for students: 鈥淚 find it difficult to have any meaningful discussion in a large class; frequently, just a few students participate and the majority are silent. By adding an online component where students worked in small groups (five to six people) to discuss a topic, come up with a position, and write a group position paper together, I believe more students were much more engaged in the discussion.鈥�

Student learning: 鈥淢y impression was that more students were engaged in discussion. I also thought the papers produced were equivalent or better in quality to papers I get in other classes.鈥�

One successful approach: 鈥淚 found the FAQ discussion board useful. It meant I didn鈥檛 have to answer the same question multiple times by email. It did take some training on my part to get students to post questions rather than email me.鈥�

Why try it? 鈥淔or me, developing the online course has been very exciting and challenging. I鈥檝e enjoyed learning the technology and thinking about my teaching in new and creative ways.鈥�

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Dr. Berger, an associate professor in the Science and Technology program at 91探花Bothell, is the degree coordinator of Bothell鈥檚 new Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. The program鈥檚 capstone courses (BEE 495 and 496) are partially conducted online and are designed to simulate real-world consulting projects. Dr. Berger uses the meeting software WebEx 鈥渢o do some teaching online, to give lectures. I use it with several of my capstone teams who cannot come to campus for our regular project status meetings.鈥�

Benefits for students: 鈥淚n terms of educational outcomes, online has a lot to offer. Particularly, I think, for the non-traditional students. Many of our courses here at Bothell are taught late afternoon, early evening, to accommodate adults. But where we are located (the intersection of SR-522 and I-405) is just a rush hour nightmare. Students are trying to get here from their jobs at the worst possible time of day. So anything we can do to make it easier for them to manage their lives and attend classes has got to be good.鈥�

Student performance: Once when he taught both online and face-to-face sections of a computer architecture course, he was surprised by the results. 鈥漈he online students did slightly better overall than the students who were in the classroom with me. I found that to be really depressing!鈥� In the capstone courses, he says, 鈥淭hey go from being a student to an engineer over the course of two quarters.鈥�

Efficiency: 鈥淔or certain kinds of classes, such as lectures and project status meetings, there鈥檚 really no difference between sitting in a room and discussing a project and doing it online. In fact, in some ways online is more convenient. Industry learned this years ago, when airline travel became very expensive and physically taxing.鈥�

Flexibility: He says that when using this technology it鈥檚 important 鈥渘ot to have any rigidity, to use it as is appropriate. At different phases of a project, it makes sense to meet in person. Once it鈥檚 going, meeting online is quite simple. At the beginning, face-to-face is more effective.鈥�

Advice: 鈥淵ou need people to help faculty bridge from traditional methods to technology, because you can鈥檛 do it alone unless you鈥檙e really, really savvy. Also, there needs to be a strong commitment from the university to support the effort. Without that commitment, you鈥檙e on your own, and you鈥檙e the one with the arrows in your back.鈥�

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Dr. Kelley, an assistant professor in the Urban Studies program at 91探花Tacoma, has been teaching online for several years and recently started to use the Canvas learning management system.

Value of Canvas: 鈥淐anvas has been great. Its analytics are a significant improvement鈥� over other learning management systems.

Online flexibility: 鈥淚 am not tethered to a particular place or a particular time in order to deliver my curriculum. Using little more than a mobile phone or tablet, I can participate in the class, grade assignments, or troubleshoot via email.鈥�

Benefits for the instructor: 鈥淚 am able to teach at times that are most suitable to my own rhythms 鈥� this means I can get my writing and research done during daytime hours (when collaborators are around, when the library is open, when computer labs are available, etc.). I notice considerably more flexibility in my research schedule.鈥�

Benefits for students: He appreciates 鈥済etting to hear students鈥� voices in a way that is not possible in the face-to-face environment.鈥�

Advice: 鈥淒esign an explicit and logical schedule鈥� so that students are clear on due dates and expectations. He adds, 鈥淢ost likely, the first two times you teach a new online course it will be difficult (more work than teaching face-to-face), but after the kinks are worked out, it does get easier and more rewarding.鈥�

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Dr. Groom is a professor of Ecology and Environmental Studies in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences department at 91探花Bothell with an adjunct appointment in the 91探花Seattle Biology department. Six years ago, she began asking her students to create and edit Wikipedia entries and has continued to do so ever since. Why? Students benefited, she says, 鈥淚nstead of a paper that only one person read and commented on, they could strive to meet standards higher than the typical entry, and have their efforts serve a common good.鈥�

Why Wikipedia? 鈥淎t that time, assigning students to post or edit entries on Wikipedia was a rare thing to do, but it provided a tangible, real world reinforcement of many principles of good research and writing habits that I, and all my colleagues, try to instill in our students.鈥� These include:

• The importance of careful screening of and attribution for source material used in their synthesis
• Critical evaluation of competing ideas and presentation
• Thoughtful development of an argument and presentation of evidence
• Clear, concise writing

Student reactions: 鈥淪tudents found this an immediate challenge that pushed many to do stronger work than I had typically seen before. It was one thing to do a quick job for a term paper assignment, and another to put it out there for the world to see and judge. In interacting with the world of Wikipedians, many students had to confront challenges about their use of sources, their construction of a summary, or biases that were left unchallenged in their pieces. The larger Wikipedia community had precisely the same principles for what made for a 鈥榞ood鈥� post as we profs did 鈥� and these interactions added a layer that spoke far louder than grades and faculty comments on papers.鈥�

Online assignments can help face-to-face class: 鈥淚 rely on students doing a lot of reading out of class, but I also try to focus their work by giving them questions or tasks to complete before our discussion time in class. Sometimes that is by beginning the discussion online 鈥� to get the big ideas and concerns out there, or to share information the students have found before class so we do not spend time reporting, but instead spend our time in analysis and synthesis. Essentially, I am pushing for higherorder thinking in class, supported by the initial work comprehending and organizing ideas out of class.鈥�

Her objective: 鈥淗elping students see the value in upping the quality of their work is my goal, and I still find that the very public and open nature of Wikipedia entries helps achieve this goal.鈥�

Students see the value: 鈥淪tudents initially found the Wikipedia assignment intimidating, but I mostly got very positive feedback (including on anonymous evaluation forms). The fact that the assignment has a real-world outcome is most often mentioned, but others mention that it has helped them really understand the value of careful consideration of what makes an appropriate source, or other aspects of creating a sound synthesis of complex ideas.”

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Dr. Ezeonwu, an assistant professor in Nursing and Health Studies at 91探花Bothell, taught 鈥淐ommunity Health Nursing鈥� (BNURS 409B) as a hybrid course in Summer 2012. It鈥檚 a work in progress, she says, 鈥淚鈥檓 still tweaking it a lot.鈥�

Why hybrid? 鈥淚 just wanted to do something different. Something exciting, something that鈥檚 not the status quo anymore.鈥�

Who are the students? 鈥淲e do have a lot of non-traditional students. Students that are working a lot, that work full time, that have families. Some of them commute quite a bit.鈥�

Benefits for students: 鈥淚t鈥檚 good for them, but for some of them it鈥檚 challenging because some of them are not that computer savvy. It is actually good in a way, on the other hand, because this is exposing them to the realities of life in the 21st century, that you have to get in the ball game. I haven鈥檛 seen any negative responses. Students have really loved it. This model of teaching not only supports students鈥� synthesis of in-class and out-of-class activities through critical thinking, it also increases studentto-student interactions, and encourages full participation by all students.鈥�

Student reactions: 鈥淥verall, I鈥檝e seen positive attitudes about it, especially in terms of doing the actual interactions online. Those online components are always very interactive, and students tend to enjoy it, and I enjoy it too, so I think it鈥檚 something positive.鈥�

The hybrid format: 鈥淚t allows me to keep in touch with them while they鈥檙e in the field. I鈥檓 not with them, but I know what they鈥檙e doing.鈥� Dr. Ezeonwu noted that although she still talks to students in the field, additional online communication makes it easier for her to know exactly 鈥渨hat they鈥檙e doing and what their difficulties are and some of the challenges that they face. It鈥檚 no different from the face-to-face conversations we have in class, but we are doing it online, which makes it fun.鈥�

Online discussions: 鈥淐onversation is actually elevated to a much higher level. There are some students that are quiet students in class, that don鈥檛 talk much in the classroom; I used to be one of them. But giving them this opportunity to do this online 鈥� you go out and discuss your activities, you discuss what you learned out there in the field, and come back and talk about it online 鈥� it gives everybody the opportunity to respond. That participation piece is huge for me. And not only that, the way that students are participating is much more solid because the online discussions are asynchronous. In other words, they are thinking. They are doing their homework before they talk online. It gives them a lot of time to be articulate in responding to my questions, as well as to their peers鈥� questions.鈥�

Advice: 鈥淔or hybrid you have to be very thoughtful. If you do something that doesn鈥檛 work, you lose your students. So you have to be very careful in terms of engagement. You have to find a way to engage that conversation, and the level of engagement will depend on the kinds of questions you pose.鈥�

The power of perseverance: 鈥淭he first time you try something new, it doesn鈥檛 have to be perfect. My course has evolved over the quarters and over the few years I鈥檝e done it, and so has my comfort level. I feel I can do this in my sleep now. So that鈥檚 all about trying 鈥� you try it, you explore it, you do it, and it goes very well, which is great.鈥�

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Dr. Grossman, an associate professor in Computer Science & Engineering at 91探花Seattle, chose to make his first online class a MOOC. 鈥溾�� is a Coursera adaptation of a course he has taught several times already at UW. Dr.聽Grossman is also helping coordinate the adaptation of four other courses from 91探花Computer Science & Engineering to MOOCs, working with instructors and TAs to learn best practices for teaching MOOCs, and for the Coursera platform.

Why a MOOC? 鈥淔or me, it is largely about being passionate about the course material and how to present it. Given this passion, why would I not want the largest rooftop I can find from which to shout?鈥� More than 65,000 students signed up for 鈥淧rogramming Languages鈥� on Coursera, and 3,500 completed the first two assignments. 鈥淚 try to compare the impact to what I might have from writing a textbook; the ability to reach learners via videos, assignments, and an online community is exciting. It is an opportunity for 91探花and for me personally to exhibit educational leadership.鈥�

Educational value of MOOCs: 鈥淲ith so many students, some will have a transformative educational experience, others will learn very little, and most who express some interest will not end up participating. To compare it to a conventional course where students get personal attention, have significant financial investments, and have shared background as part of a coherent curriculum, is difficult. I instead prefer to compare it to writing a textbook. Just as many people touching a book do not read it and those who read it have a wide range of understanding as a result, the learning in MOOCs defies description.鈥�

Student reactions: 鈥淏ecause of the large size of the classes and the physical separation of the students, the sheer amount of (attempted) learning and self-motivation is stunning. In the first day of my course, more people watched my course-introduction video than have ever taken one of my conventional courses.鈥�

How he sees his role: 鈥淟ike a book author, I am primarily making content available and providing learning opportunities. I do interact on the discussion forum as time allows, but it is often more as a firefighter than as a pedagogue.鈥�

Student learning: 鈥淭he amount of student learning is difficult to judge, but even if we grant, as others would vigorously contend, that it significantly trails conventional courses, is that the right comparison? What if many of the students spending their evenings participating in my Coursera course are doing so instead of watching reality television or going shopping?鈥�

Advice: 鈥淚t can be deeply rewarding, but have no illusions. No matter what you do, many students will complain and many more will not finish.鈥�

鈥淚t is an enormous amount of work. To continue my favorite analogy, it is perhaps as much work as writing a textbook. Make sure you have a great course and a solid set of materials that will translate reasonably well to an online setting. Start early 鈥� months early.鈥�

鈥淲ork with TAs who share your passion for the material and for the excitement and novelty of MOOCs. I may be the talking head in the videos getting all the credit, but I have a small but unbelievably fantastic team keeping things afloat.鈥�

Links: Dr. Grossman鈥檚 faculty

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Dr. Ackerman, an assistant professor of Social Work at 91探花Tacoma, was a 2012 91探花Tacoma Tech Fellow. She has used Twitter in and out of the classroom to engage students in a broad conversation about criminal justice issues.

Twitter: 鈥淪etting up Twitter was the easy part for all. Operating Twitter was a little more difficult for students. I created a 鈥榟ow to鈥� document for them to follow, which seemed to shorten the learning curve. Within a week or two, most students were using Twitter effectively.鈥�

Student reactions: 鈥淪tudent reactions have been mixed. Some students love the instant interaction.鈥�

Benefits for students: 鈥淚 believe that Twitter enhances student learning. This is especially true when I have invited 鈥榞uest lecturers鈥� to class via Twitter. I have done this with authors of books, journalists, and other scholars. This allows students to benefit from the reactions of others in the field in real time. Another added benefit occurs when the students 鈥榯ag鈥� authors of articles and the author responds directly to them.鈥�

Brevity requires focus: 鈥淚 believe that having to condense one鈥檚 thoughts into 140 or so characters provides focus. Some students welcomed this challenge, while others would much prefer the traditional essay.鈥�

Leveraging social media expertise: 鈥淪tudents already know how to use social media, but learning how to do so in a professional and articulate way can only benefit them in the long run!鈥�

Advice to other faculty interesting in using Twitter: 鈥淏e patient and have a lot of structure regarding what you want from students.鈥�

Links: Dr. Ackerman created for her students.

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