introduction to psychology: northern arizona university fully implemented, 2009 2000/year...
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Introduction to Psychology:Northern Arizona UniversityFully implemented, 2009
2000/year foundational, survey-style class
Traditionally, 8-11 uncoordinated sections/year
Issues: Engagement. 63% study < 2 hours per week Student learning and achievement Enrollment pressures and cost. $62/student Consistency. Non-permanent staff, divergent grade
distributions Faculty perception, participation
Background and Overview ABOR/Learner-Centered Education program
PIs: K. Laurie Dickson, Derrick Wirtz Supplemental model
Goals: Promote learning and success, engagement/effort, consistency, full-time staffing, while reducing cost
Measures include knowledge assessment, grades, exam performance, student opinion surveys Primary comparison: Fall 2005, 120-student traditional section
Redesigned course: Team taught F2F section with substantial online supplementation 400 students/section, back to back scheduling, coordination GTA team approach with “early intervention specialist”
Redesigned Course Pedagogy
Web assignments 4 per semester Guided exploration and written reflection on web-based surveys and
other activities Pilot research suggested these effectively complement material
Required, repeatable online quizzes Randomly sampled from test bank (Myers Exploring Psychology)
Student response system Full credit for any answer 10% of course grade
Email contact with struggling students
Fully Online Component
Institutional need for fully-online offering
Cost effectiveness, staffing, and course building were barriers
Co-designed by experienced former adjunct and M. Miller Master content template created collaboratively Staffing varies; adjunct during academic year, full-time in other
sessions
For full description and results please see:Miller, M.D., & Rader, M.E. (2010). Two heads are better than one: Collaborative
development of an online course content template. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6, 246-255.
Results: Grades• Redesigned course produces similar pattern as traditionally
taught course. Note increased student effort, pattern associated with D and F grades.
But wait…
Could “non-exam” assignments or other factors have inflated grades? How many students would have failed solely on the basis
of exam scores?
What about learning?
Results: Exam Scores Four versus two exams; otherwise comparable
Students in redesigned section scored significantly better better (p < .001). 5.7% difference is about half of one standard deviation
In redesigned section, 6.5% would have failed on exam scores alone
Results: Learning Assessment
Both sections made significant gains (p < .001)
Degree of gain statistically indistinguishable across sections
Other Impacts and Findings Communication and intervention
Email: Strategies for routing, managing and preventing Positive response to proactive email contact Study skills workshops
Student response system Perceptions radically improved from pilot to current version Students endorse SRS usefulness, though logistical problems persist Students strongly endorsed usefulness of repeatable quizzes
Department and faculty impacts Cost: $62 -> $43 Team teaching/coordination approach 90% of teaching done by full-time faculty
For More Information…
[email protected], [email protected]
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michelle-miller/13/410/a73
http://www.thencat.org/States/AZ/Abstracts/NAU%20Psychology_Abstract.htm
Miller, M.D., & Rader, M.E. (2010). Two heads are better than one: Collaborative development of an online course content template. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6, 246-255.
Miller, M.D. (2009) What the science of cognition tells us about instructional technology. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 41, 71-74.