Category: Assessment

Become a teaching superhero
Assessment, Best Practices, Collaboration, Distance Ed, Pedagogy

BECOME A TEACHING SUPERHERO WITH TLThd’S CLASS OBSERVATIONS

Mendi Benigni

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TLThd is launching a new service to all instructors at CofC…CLASS OBSERVATIONS

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These observations can be for your face-to-face or your online classes.  An instructional technologist will come to your class (or review your OAKS online class) and observe you and your students.  At the end of the observation we will provide you with a full report of everything that occurred during the class.  You can then use that information however you see fit! The important thing to remember is that this is just for you, no one else. We don’t mention it to your Chairs, Dean, or Colleagues nor will we conduct an observation at the request of anyone else. The only purpose of the observation is to give you the data to allow you to reflect on your teaching and your student interaction.

Currently we are offering In-class, Videotaped, and Student Focus Group observations for the face-to-face classes and a Module Review in the online classes.  We hope to expand our online offerings in December. 

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Assessment

OneNewThing: Easy Peer Assignment Review with PeerMark 

Mendi Benigni

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Benefits of Peer Review

Peer review provides benefits to both the reviewer and the reviewee.  In a study but Lundstrom and Baker, where some students only gave feedback and others only received feedback, it “indicated that the givers, who focused solely on reviewing peers’ writing, made more significant gains in their own writing over the course of the semester than did the receivers, who focused solely on how to use peer feedback.”  In the Nicol, Thomson and Breslin study,  “(t)he findings show that producing feedback reviews engages students in multiple acts of evaluative judgement, both about the work of peers, and, through a reflective process, about their own work; that it involves them in both invoking and applying criteria to explain those judgements; and that it shifts control of feedback processes into students’ hands, a shift that can reduce their need for external feedback. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.”

Peer review or feedback allows your students to:

  • Learn from one another
  • Engage with the writing, assignment, or presentation
  • Clarify their own ideas
  • See other people’s perspectives
  • Gives them more confidence

How Can We Do Peer Review More Easily?

PeerMark

PeerMark™ is a peer review assignment tool. Instructors can create and manage PeerMark assignments that allow students to read, review, and evaluate one or many papers submitted by their classmates. With the advanced options in PeerMark instructors can choose whether the reviews are anonymous or attributed. (from the PeerMark website)

Process Diagram

The basic stages of the peer review process:

  • Instructor creates a Turnitin paper assignment.
  • Instructor creates a PeerMark assignment and sets the number of papers students will be required to review, and creates free response and scale questions for students to respond to while reviewing papers.
  • Student papers are submitted to the Turnitin assignment.
  • On the PeerMark assignment start date, students begin writing peer reviews.
  • For each assigned paper students write reviews by responding to the free response and scale questions.
  • Students receive reviews as other students complete them.
  • Once the PeerMark assignment due date passes no more reviews can be written, completed, or edited by the writer

screenshot

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Resources

 

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Magnifying glass over a finger print
Assessment, Collaboration, Mobile

Digital scavenger hunts for building class community

Mendi Benigni

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Scavenger hunts are a great way to get your students working together for a common goal.  This is a wonderful way for them to bond as a class or to gel as a group project team.   These types of hunts can be used for assessment as well but I want to focus mainly on team and community building.

For interaction, successful group work, and/or great discussion to occur in your class there needs to be trust.  Students need to trust the instructor but more importantly, they need to trust their classmates.  This trust is what allows the students to speak their minds, voice their opinions, or contradict an instructor or a classmate.  Without this all you get is superficiality.

While building trust within a classroom is another topic in and of itself, the first step to establishing this type of environment is to get the students familiar with one another and to have them experience working as a team.  A scavenger hunt is a fun way to do this.

Check out Goose Chase scavenger hunt creator.  First, a special shout out to Melissa Negreiros from Philip Simmons Elementary who introduced me to this application.  It’s a free (mostly) digital scavenger hunt application and here are the details:

  • Free
    • Regular account allows for 3 groups in a hunt and one hunt at a time.
    • Educator account allows for 5 groups in a hunt and one hunt at a time.
    • Educator paid is <$50/yr.
  • Online
  • Built-in list of possible activities from which to choose
  • Can create your own activities customized to your students, organization, or content
  • Can set a duration for the hunt
  • Can easily invite students with a class code, no accounts required
  • Can password protect it

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Uses:

  • Group community building
  • Class community building
  • Icebreakers
  • Content assessment
  • Field trip engagement
  • Brain break
  • Learn about campus resources

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Assessment, Make It Stick Monday, Pedagogy, TLTCon

Killing our Darlings

Michael S. Overholt

The following is the third post on the book Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel.  Henry L. Roediger, III will be the keynote speaker at this year’s TLTCon, May 16-17, 2019, on the campus of the College of Charleston.  Attendees will receive a free copy of Make It Stick at a registration event on March 14, 2019 to promote Roediger’s visit and the learning experience. Click the hyperlinks to read blog posts on “effortful retrieval” and “varied practice” as learning strategies.

“In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”  That’s advice from William Faulkner where he is encouraging writers not to shy from deleting favorite but useless passages from manuscripts.  It may be helpful advice for teachers, too.   Few theories are as dear as learning styles theory (LST), which urges teachers to use a variety of presentation methods to meet preferred modes of learning.  If you believe the grammar of chapter six’s title “Get beyond Learning Styles” expresses the writers’ true feelings about LST, you’re correct.  Move past it.  Get over it.  Research suggests the theory is overrated at best and dispiriting at worst.

We shouldn’t be surprised at their argument, however, given LST’s “perverse effect” (148) of subordinating hard work to style preference.  Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel have made it abundantly clear that effort is key to learning.  That’s the one note they’ve been blowing all along. The sooner we jettison “easy learning is the best learning” the better.

That said, we should consider whether a chapter debunking learning style theory is nothing short of a “Get out of jail free” card for us instructors—i.e., we don’t have to worry about how we teach since learning is really up to the learner.  Such is not the case.  In a previous blog on “effortful retrieval” (ET) I highlighted the limitations of “dipstick testing”—i.e., testing that measures a student’s short-term memory.  These tests can also be called “static testing” because they measure a student’s learning at a specific time in the same way that a dipstick tells us where the oil level is while we’re at the BP on Highway 17 at 3:15 pm on Monday, November 26, 2018.  The information is helpful for the moment but could quickly become irrelevant if an engine valve is going out or the oil plug is faulty.  In short, there are more precise measurements to take if we really want to know how the Honda Accord is running.  Enter dynamic testing, a term we could have predicted.  Dynamic testing aims at

determining the state of one’s expertise; refocusing learning on areas of low performance; follow-up testing to measure the improvement and to refocus learning so as to keep raising expertise.  Thus, a test may assess a weakness, but rather than assuming that the weakness indicates a fixed inability, you interpret it as a lack of skill or knowledge than can be remedied (151).

If this description rings with Carol Dweck’s concept of a growth mindset, you’re right, and there are at least two important takeaways for instructors.  The first is represented directly from the above excerpt: offer testing regularly for students to assess their weaknesses.  They can redouble efforts to improve weak areas and check for improvement with subsequent testing.  Certain course formats are more suited for this type of testing and follow-up testing, gaming being perhaps the best.

The second takeaway is more applicable to a wider variety of course designs: clearly identify what skill(s) we are testing.  As teachers, we can too easily be guilty of giving tests that simply cover content areas.  Ill-defined testing yields useless information.  Call it non-information or—better yet—Statistically Hopeless Ill-defined Testing.  Would any one of us be satisfied by going to the doctor and having to sit through a barrage of tests only to be told we’re “sick” at the end of the appointment?  “Sick with what?” we demand.  That diagnosis isn’t good enough for you or the doctor, and more testing will ensue.  The same holds true in cases where Professor Z announces, “There will be a quiz on chapter 10, pages 253-75.”  What’s being measured?  Students who earn a D on a quiz so poorly defined only know that they are below average in chapter 10, pages 253-75.  That’s not helpful, and it’s not education.

Providing our students with clearly articulated objectives prior to testing is essential to dynamic testing.  The clarity lets the students know exactly what skill they are being tested on.  As instructors, we should be able to finish this statement for every graded assignment: “This [test, quiz, writing assignment, etc.] measures the student’s ability to . . .”  (Nota bene: I recommend Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Action Verbs to formulate and scale objectives.) The student should be able to verbalize the objective(s) in return.  If we can’t say precisely what we are testing, let’s save ourselves the irritation when grading and students the bewilderment of blindly reading over information in hopes of reaching unforeseen goals.  That’s a darling everyone can do without.

Team-based Learning: a quick guide to understanding
Assessment, Best Practices, Collaboration, Innovative Instruction, Pedagogy

Team-Based Learning Quick Guide

Mendi Benigni

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What is Team-Based Learning?

“Team-Based Learning is an evidence-based collaborative learning teaching strategy designed around units of instruction, known as “modules,” that are taught in a three-step cycle: preparation, in-class readiness assurance testing, and application-focused exercise. A class typically includes one module.” 1

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Why incorporate Team-based Learning?

TBL covers all types of learning:

  • rote and concept learning tested by the individual assurance testing (iRAT)
  • collaborative learning when discussing and coming to consensus on the team readiness assurance test (gRAT/tRAT)
  • application and creative learning during the team case portion

In addition, it also encourages additional skills necessary to succeed in work/life today, such as:

  • problem-solving
  • teamwork
  • consensus
  • cooperation
  • leadership
  • listening skills
  • collaboration

 

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When should you incorporate Team-based Learning?

TBL is most successful when used on a consistent basis throughout the semester.  This is because the critical component to TBL is the ongoing, consistent team!  CIEL at Vancouver University states, “Groups are collections of individuals. Teams are groups who have developed a shared purpose and sense of collective responsibility. Groups evolve into teams when an instructor creates the proper conditions for effective collaboration.” 2  In order for these teams to gel and be successful they need to meet and work together on a regular basis otherwise, it’s just in class group work.

TBL can be used in any discipline so don’t shy away from the idea because you don’t immediately see how this will work for you.   A little web research will show you many case studies and problems that you can use to teach your concepts.  When choosing a case or problem remember, the teamwork is most effective “when used with assignments where students are asked to converge their diverse thinking in making a single, collective decision, much like a deliberative body.”2

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Creating the Teams

The teams are the most important part of TBL.  Here are a few rules to follow when making the groups:

  1. never use student-selected teams
  2. create diverse teams (balanced intellectual and personality resources)
  3. make the selection process transparent
  4. 5-7 students per team
  5. decide what criteria are important to the groups in your class, as well as detrimental.  Ex. had previous courses in the program.
  6. prioritize your criteria (good and bad)
  7. call out the first criteria and allow the students to self-determine if they meet the criteria or not

Learn more about creating your teams at Team Formation for TBL.

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The Process

Taught in modules (usually one per class) in three-step cycles: preparation, in-class readiness assurance testing, and application focused exercise.  

  • Student Preparation:
    • must be done before the class – watching, reading, completing a worksheet, etc.
    • some give a reading/watching guide of things to look for and vocab to know.
  • In-class Readiness Assessment Test (RAT):

Step 1:  Students complete an individual RAT (5-20 questions) and submit it (this is not on the if-at) a.k.a. iRAT
These questions are based on the reading(s) and shouldn’t be an easy yes/no answer.  They are multiple choice but should require some thought and application.

Step 2: Students get into their teams and take the same RAT together (uses if-at) a.k.a. tRAT or gRAT
All answers must be agreed upon by the entire team so if there is a discrepancy, the students have to try to convince the other students on the team until they come to a consensus.  This is the same test they took earlier as an individual.  

Team reads the question and discusses it.
They then scratch off the answer they agree upon on the If-At scratch-off.
If it is correct they see a star and get full points.
If it is incorrect they have to discuss again and give it another go.
They continue to scratch answers until they receive the correct one.  Their points decrease every time they incorrectly scratch.

Step 3: Teams are given the opportunity to appeal answers they got incorrect.  This is a formal process in writing where they state their Argument then provide Evidence with page numbers from the readings that back their argument.

Step 4: Professor conducts a clarifying lecture of what the students didn’t grasp, based on the RAT scores.

  • Application Exercise:
    • students are given a problem or challenge and they must come to a team consensus to choose the “best” solution.  These problems do not have one right answer.
    • the teams discuss their findings and solution with the class.

The application-based exercises are very case-based and should include the following:

  • Significant: demonstrates a concepts usefulness.
  • Specific choice: based on course concepts.  Ex which procedure is BEST to use and why.
  • Same problem: all teams receive the same problem.
  • Simultaneous report to the class in a discussion.

Scaffolding

  • Instructors can give a worksheet to the teams that teach them to think through a problem by walking them through the process, how to dissect a statement and make an argument.

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Student to Student feedback at midterm and final

This feedback is critical to the success of a long-term team so these evaluations are an important part of the process.  The feedback should be positive and constructive.  Here are some ideas for questions:

  • One thing they appreciate about this team member
  • One thing they request of this team member
  • Distribute points among the members
    • Look at Preparation, Contribution, Gatekeeping, Flexibility
  • Also, include what they appreciate/request about the instructor

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Sample Case Repositories

Public Health

Exercise Science

PEHD

 

COFC ONLY – Does this seem at all interesting?  If so, contact me and I’ll give you the IF-AT scratch-off cards to use in your class.  They include instructions and a test-maker!  This offer is first come, first serve so don’t wait!  Email benignim@cofc.edu using your CofC email to let me know you want them.

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Resources:

Team-Based Learning Collaborative

Team-Based Learning Video

Yale Center for Teaching and Learning: Team-based Learning

What is Team-Based Learning? from the Center for Innovation and Excellence in Learning

 

 

 

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Assessment

Great New Change to the OAKS Dropbox/Assignment tool!

Mendi Benigni

Students can now post a link or text directly into the Assignment/Dropbox submission area!

In the past, if your assignment required students to submit a link to something they created, they would have to put the link in a Word document and upload it.  Now there is a setting to allow them to add the link right on the Assignment Submission page, skipping the extra step of the Word doc!

screenshot highlighting the Submission OptionsNote: this only works on newly created Assignments

  1. In your OAKS class, go to Grades > Assignments/Dropbox
  2. Create a new assignment by clicking on New Folder
  3. On the Properties tab, scroll to the bottom and click on Show Submission Options
  4. Under Submission Requirements, click on Text submission, no file required
  5. Finish setting up your assignment then click Save and Close

 

 

Instead of a File Upload button, the students will see a text box they can type into and submit:

Screenshot of the student view showing the text box

Can I have my cake and eat it too?

The question I get most often is, can I have both a File Upload button and a Text submission in one assignment? Unfortunately, you cannot.  You need to choose one submission format or the other.  If you want to know more about this option, feel free to contact your Instructional Technologist!

biteable
Assessment, instructional technology, Presentation, TLT, Video

Biteable – a fun way to create an informational video

Mendi Benigni

These days infographics are all the rage but, while they can deliver a lot of information on one page, they can be a bit boring and sometimes I really need someone to explain the graphic.  Biteable now offers a way to have the easy to read and understand statistics and information found in an infographic but with the ability to add the audio explanation.

 

 

  • biteable video made easyYou start with a template that best describes your presentation.  A few examples are:
  • Add your stats, graphics, and pick your animations.
  • Add your music or voiceover file.
  • Share your final product.

Biteable is free but you have to put up with a logo in the lower right corner of your finished product.  If you love it and want to purchase a subscription it’s $99/year.  For class projects, however I think the free version is more than enough.

Biteable how to make a videoThe subscription offers you:

  • 85,000 Stock Footage Clips
  • No Biteable Logo/Watermark
  • Download To Your Computer
  • Upload Your Own Footage
  • Privacy Controls

So the next time you give a presentation, infographic, or elevator pitch to your students, consider suggesting they use Biteable to deliver their information.

cell phone scanning a bubble answer sheet
Assessment, Mobile, Productivity, TLT

Ditch the Scantron, Use ZipGrade

Mendi Benigni

cell phone scanning a bubble answer sheetAre you tired of walking to Bell or the Library to use the Scantron machine?  Try ZipGrade.

Last year at the ISTE Conference I was introduced to ZipGrade but am just getting around to looking at in depth.  ZipGrade “turns your phone or tablet into an optical grading machine similar to a Scantron. It reads free-to-download answer sheets in multiple sizes. Provide instant feedback to students by grading exit tickets, quizzes, and formative assessments as soon as they finish.” (ZipGrade website)

Here’s how it works:

  1. Sign up for a free account
  2. Download the ZipGrade app to your cell phone or tablet (iOS and Android)
  3. Print out the 100-question answer sheets for your students (don’t worry, your test/quiz can be less than 100 questions)
  4. Student takes the test and turns in the answer sheet
  5. You use your phone to scan it, right then and there if you want.  It takes seconds!

You’re done.  By the time all the students have taken the test, you’re done grading!!  Plus you’re instantly able to see the students’ scores on your app and your question stats.  No more schlepping to Bell or the Library to use the Scantron.

screenshot of the appFeatures

  • Use with or without (anonymous) student names and ID numbers
  • No internet is required to create and scan the quizzes
  • You can import your student information using an OAKS download
  • Create answer sheet packs with student names and ID numbers pre-filled

Tip – use the 100 question answer sheet because it’s the only one that allows an ID number long enough to accommodate the CWID.

Pros

Cons
  • Fast and easy.
  • Free and cheap.
  • Realtime quiz/test scores.
  • Reads pen and pencil.
  • Export your OAKS classlist into ZipGrade.
  • Cannot re-import the ZipGrade quiz grades back into OAKS.  You have to manually enter them in the grade book.

Cost:

  • Free download and 100-scans per month
  • Unlimited Scanning: $6.99 for 1 year

FERPA and Privacy:

Blind Kahoot
Assessment, discussion, Innovative Instruction, instructional technology, Pedagogy

New Way To Introduce Course Content In Your Classes

Mendi Benigni

Everyone who has ever tried Kahoot loves it.  We love it because it is fun, exciting, and a great way to review material.  However, have you ever tried to use it to introduce new material?  If you haven’t, you may want to take a look at Blind Kahooting.  A Biology teacher names Steph Castle appears to be credited with creating the Blind Kahoot! and it’s actually a pretty genius idea.  It’s using Kahoot! to introduce an entirely new subject, one for which they have little to no knowledge.   

How Does It Work?

The gist is that you follow a template to create your Kahoot! that flows like this:

Q1 – Introductory Question – this question sets the scene and brings the students on board with the topic and/or the main goal.

Q2 – Toughest Question – ask the toughest question you can think of about this topic or goal.  This question, if answered correctly, should demonstrate that the student understood the topic and could move on.   Note: is not just okay that they get the question wrong, it’s expected.  

  • Now, you explain the question and the answer to your students.  This gets you going on the topic or goal.

Q3-? – Reinforcing Questions – Ask a series of questions that will take the students through the topic.  The goal is for them to practice what they’ve just learned.  You will also explain each answer after the question is finished.  Basically you are using these questions to deliver your content and checking for understanding all at the same time.  You may even want to ask the same question several different ways to ensure they are understanding the topic.

Last question – Ask your Toughest Question again. Can also be an application question.  Should combine all the items learned in the Kahoot!

Wash, rinse, repeat – To introduce another topic or part of the topic, start the process all over.

When completely finished, be sure to leave enough time for the students to try to beat their score using Kahoot!’s Ghost Mode.

Resources

There are a ton of great resources and videos to help you through this process.  Here are just a few:

 

Assessment, Best Practices, Collaboration, Distance Ed, Events, Innovative Instruction, Pedagogy, Teaching Advice

DE 2.0 Workshop: Humanizing Your Online Course

Amy Ostrom

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“I miss getting to really know my students. It’s just not the same.”

“There’s no way of knowing who is on the other side of the screen.”

Sound familiar? If so then you aren’t alone.

Not only do some instructors feel this way about online learning, but students do as well. Often they feel isolated, disconnected, and insignificant. These feelings of seclusion can often lead to decreased motivation, attention, and engagement. As part of the online learning process, it is vital to intentionally design elements to make sure that that the human connection isn’t lost in the online learning process.

 

What is Humanizing?

Humanizing your course involves considering the teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence of all participants in order to build community and enhance communication. The ultimate goal of this process is to make online education as personal and individualized as possible while building relationships between your students, the content, and yourself.

About the DE 2.0 Workshop

This 3-week long, self-paced session will take you through some strategies that you can use in your online class to make you and your students feel more connected. While this course is held fully online, it does contain three optional synchronous sessions with experts in humanizing online education from around the world!

You might be interested in this session if:

  • You feel you are not connecting with your students in your online class the way you do in your face-to-face class.
  • You feel like your online class lacks community.
  • You want to make your course more engaging and personal for the students.

 

humanizing-youronline-course

Workshop Goals

  • Discover the elements of teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence as it applies to the online learning environment, particularly in the areas of facilitation, learning domains, and course design.
  • Research assessment and engagement strategies, community building/maintaining platforms, and technology tools for increasing the humanized element.
  • Discuss elements of humanized learning with other faculty teaching online at College of Charleston.
  • Ask questions, exchange ideas, and meet other CofC faculty teaching distance education courses.
  • Create engaging content and online activities that foster the elements of teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence.

Learning Outcomes

  • Explore instructional theories that lead to a more humanized online class.
  • Identify areas of your course that can be made learner centered and/or interactive.
  • Revise and/or create course interactions, including social learning experiences, content delivery methods, and assessment of student learning.

Register now on TLT’s DE Readiness Blog!

Applications are open until January 31, 2017!