Course (Re)design

Barbara Z. Johnson, Ed.D.University of Minnesota – Duluth

Instructional Development paradigm at UMD

My roles ID Structure – Tech Camp and

Technophytes M.Ed. Example Psychology minor example

No single instructional design department or team or process◦ Instructional Development Services◦ IT Faculty Technology Consultants (me)◦ IT student workers◦ Continuing Education Instructional Designer◦ Collegiate units – Academic Technology◦ Departments – media developers◦ Faculty and student media labs• Faculty members create most instructional

materials and load into LMS (with help)

Tech support ~ 300 faculty Consult on tech-enhanced course design Teach faculty and staff to use technology Create tech-enhanced course components Technology infrastructure to support

instruction (creation and implementation) Managed faculty media lab & student

workers Created and taught 4 classes (Education)

Project-based instructional design and technology learning initiatives

Course or program design or redesign Technology enhancement Stipends for equipment or software Assigned a faculty technology consultant

from IT Allotted 20 hours of student media

development time Tech Camp – 7 day intensive; Technophytes

– semester long with weekly meetings

Application◦ Analysis◦ Design

Pre-camp meetings◦ Design

Camp or weekly meetings◦ Development (attendee)

Post-camp work◦ Development (attendee, IT mentor, students)

Following semester◦ Implementation

Evaluation◦ Report, link to project on website, booth at annual

showcase, presentation at a brown bag session

May work with IDS or IT to develop their initial project idea

Will work with IT mentor to refine it

Course purpose – university, unit, major, student

Student characteristics Student outcomes or major ideas How do we assess student learning for the

class? (Disciplinary epistemology and paradigms)

Expectations for types of student engagement

Methods section of proposal Human subjects research application

Ability to evaluate educational research Become member of the education research

community◦ Able to give feedback and discuss research

Understand reason for IRB application and oversight

Courses encourage student interaction and constructivist learning through discussions

Students take core courses together for two years

Establish a support network and community of learners

Conduct action research project Instructors also form a community of practice Evaluation of course and program outcomes

by teaching community via peer-review process

Hybrid – initial meeting to develop community and familiarize people with tools

Asynchronous – working adults Focus on discussions and step-wise

progression toward capstone research project

Build sense of community and faculty presence to maintain student engagement

Tools identified and purchased prior to Tech Camp

Faculty create the curriculum plan and course materials

IT consultants searched for the right LMS◦ IT implementation staff◦ DGS◦ Education faculty◦ Faculty from other departments◦ IT Director

Purchase, installation and training materials – Web Crossing

During Tech Camp IDS and IT teach mini-workshops Faculty start developing their courses with

assistance from IT mentors and IT students At end of workshop, develop action plan for

completion of the project◦ Who will manage project – faculty or IT mentor?◦ What needs to be done?◦ Who will do it? ◦ Define necessary resources, timeline, and location for

work◦ Check in schedule for IT mentor and faculty member

Post workshop completion of materials Frequent check ins with faculty member Project progress tracked in data base Materials might be completed by:

◦ Faculty member IT staff or student assistance

◦ IT professional Free-throw simulation Vector program

◦ IT student or VDIL grad student Scanning, cropping, adjustment Video

All major writing assignments contributed to final project

Initial face to face meeting tech support onsite

Continued co-instructor status by IT mentors to monitor

IT mentors also able to administrate the LMS Occasional additions – like videotaping

sessions for students who could not attend face to face sessions; offline access to the Library

Worked with faculty as they adjusted initial assignments

Before implementation check – accessibility, copyright, best practices for student engagement, technology check, feedback avenues, and alignment

During class – mid-term student survey Student evaluation of class at the end Peer review sessions on student work Report on how objectives met Link to project on Tech Camp website Booth at annual showcase Presentation at a brown bag session

Analysis and Design decided before application◦ Online (parallel) versions of most popular courses

and those necessary for the minor to meet demand

◦ Design – independently paced, individual study Modules – video introduction, typed version of

lectures, readings, reflection questions Assessment – mid-term and final No student contact with instructor or other students TA available for questions and to proctor tests

Video introductions◦ Camera equipment and art grad student from VDIL◦ IT streaming server administrator◦ Faculty members

Development of a new LMS◦ Psych department hired programmer and purchased

server◦ IT systems people to secure and allow on network◦ Registrar to load class information into LMS

Content and Assessment◦ Taught TA how to create web pages and scan images◦ Taught TA how to create and administer MC tests

Testing prior to going live◦ Registration in-loading tests by IT◦ Consultants spot checked pages, did midterms,

answered reflection questions, listened to videos

Spot checked for accessibility & copyright before going live

Success – cleared the backlog and waiting lists for the courses

Failure - < 50% completion rate at C or above

Student evaluations◦ Forgot about the course◦ Got too far behind to catch up◦ Did not get enough feedback on progress before

the tests

Created student self-assessment to be completed before registering for an online course (Palloff and Pratt)

Added reporting options in the LMS to find struggling students

TA emailed struggling students at mid-term TA to email feedback at least once per term

to each student on reflection questions Eventually ported to WebCT and student

engagement frequency increased

Vector self check online homework assistance

Intro to Theatre conversion to hybrid class using social media

Hundreds of faculty web pages ….

Hundreds of faculty and course web pages ….

Educational Administrator Licensure Handbook and Quiz

Tech Savvy Girls (research) in Second Life