Linda Martin-Morris: Flipping lecture content enlivens large classes

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Linda Martin-Morris: Flipping lecture content enlivens large classes

Posted on March 1, 2013December 16, 2015

Dr. Martin-Morris, a principal lecturer in the Department of Biology at 91探花Seattle, has flipped her classroom for her large Biology courses. She uses the Tegrity lecture capture tool to create online materials and uses class time to assist student groups in synthesizing information.

Student reactions: 鈥淢y students report enormous gains in confidence and understanding, but also that they feel they had to spend way too much time getting there.鈥�

Her learning curve: 鈥淨uarter 1: scared and ineffective. Quarter 2: much better but still received a very challenging collegial evaluation. Quarter 3: I鈥檝e got this down. I鈥檓 in quarter 4: still learning how to improve, which is fun.鈥�

Assessment: 鈥淚 am excited to assess more effectively, including longitudinally; how do these students perform in subsequent classes?鈥�

Classroom dynamic: 鈥淓very day I walk into a very lively and exciting classroom that challenges me but challenges students at least as much. That鈥檚 exciting. Most days I have to remind students when class is over; that never happened when lecturing.鈥�

Advice for others interested in flipping: 鈥淒o not over-lecture. Be ready for a little blowback. This type of learning is challenging for students and you have to be ready to sell it every single day.鈥�

Learn More

Read the full Provost report on how 91探花faculty are enhancing teaching with technology.

Douglas Wills: No nostalgia for chalk and talk

Posted on March 1, 2013December 16, 2015

Dr. Wills, an associate professor in the Milgard School of Business at 91探花Tacoma, has been flipping his economics classes 鈥� both for undergraduate and MBA students 鈥� for years. As a 91探花Tacoma Tech Fellow, he also developed an online 鈥淚ntroduction to Microeconomics鈥� (TECON 200) class during summer 2012.

Benefits of flipping: 鈥淔lipping the classroom opened up possibilities that have made teaching much more exciting and rewarding. To go back to the standard chalk and talk (or more accurately now, 鈥楶owerPoint and talk鈥�) with largely unengaged students is now inconceivable.鈥�

Benefits for the instructor: 鈥淚 am much more involved in my classes, not only because the interaction with students is so much more useful and enjoyable, but there are so many more possibilities.鈥�

Advice: 鈥淚f you鈥檙e thinking of doing it to improve your teaching, then be prepared for a lot of investment of time and be prepared to innovate and experiment. There is a lot of value in learning from others about the technology (and no, it鈥檚 not really about the technology) and basic principles of hybrid/online.鈥�

Why try it? 鈥淵ou only learn how to do this well by doing it.鈥�

Learn More

Read the full Provost report on how 91探花faculty are enhancing teaching with technology.

To tweet or not to tweet

Posted on March 1, 2013October 1, 2015

Using Twitter to engage students

, Assistant Professor of Social Work at 91探花Tacoma鈥攁 2012 91探花Tacoma Tech Fellow鈥攈as used Twitter in and out of the classroom to engage students in a broad conversation about criminal justice issues.

How she did it

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 interested in using Twitter: 鈥淏e patient and have a lot of structure regarding what you want from students.鈥�

Learn more

This article was originally published on March 2013 as part of a 91探花Provost report on trends and issues in public higher education. Read Dr. Ackerman鈥檚聽聽guide聽created for her students.

Keep students on track with 鈥渆lectronic nudges鈥�

Posted on March 1, 2013October 1, 2015

, Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at 91探花Tacoma, is putting students鈥� mobile devices to work for a good cause.

To help her online pre-calculus and introductory statistics classes stay on track and motivated, she piloted 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.

What she has learned

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�

Reaction from her students: 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�

Learn more

This article was originally published on March 2013 as part of a 91探花Provost report on trends and issues in public higher education. Read the Educause Review online article about the pilot, .