Redesign of PSYC 1101 into a 50% Online (Hybrid) Course Sue Spaulding, UNC Charlotte Pearson Education March 9, 2012 Boston Office.

Redesign of PSYC 1101 into a 50% Online (Hybrid) Course

Sue Spaulding, UNC CharlottePearson Education

March 9, 2012 Boston Office

Why We Did It

• More efficient use of resources (space)• Serve more students• Encourage student responsibility for learning• Energize instructors

Hybrid Format (Replacement Model)

• Replaced one of two face-2-face meetings each week with online activities, media assignments, quizzes, & practice exams.• Adopted My Psych Lab as the LMS system.• Three undergraduate and 1 graduate teaching

assistants assisted with the course.

What We Achieved

1. More efficient use of a large lecture hall2. 4 sections now meet each week instead of 2

1300 students now served per semester (previously about 1000)

3. Common curriculum, text, and exams.4. Sharing of lecture responsibilities Instructor teaches to personal strengths.5. Equivalent learning to traditional courses.

Cost/Resource Savings

Eliminated need for two large lecture halls.Original projected costs per student (1300)

Old $48.07 New $40.96

Fall 2011 reduced GTAs from 3 to 1 began using UG TAs. Additional savings of $16,000 per year.

Teaching AssistantsUndergraduate Teaching Assistant – Course Credit

1 assigned to each sectionHeld 4 office hours per week to assist students Attended all class meetingAssisted with posting gradesAssisted with grading Group and Extra Credit Projects

Graduate Teaching Assistant, additional duties - PaidSupervised Undergraduate TAsGraded Group and Extra Credit ProjectsHeld 8 office hours per week

Student OutcomesTwo hybrid sections and one traditional section were included in the Spring 2011 pilot.

Three hybrid sections, 1 traditional section, and one online section were offered in Fall 2011.

Comparisons were made in performance and course satisfaction across all formats

Grade DistributionABC DFW

Spring 2011

Fall 2011

Spring 2011

Fall 2011

Hybrid 69%/78% 69%/74% 31%/21% 31%/23%

Traditional 76% 72% 24% 28%

Online 83% 76% 17% 24%

The Friday section of the Hybrid course in both Spring and Fall performed significantly below the traditional, other hybrid, or online sections. The students’ beginning GPA in the Friday sections was significantly below the other sections.

DFW = earned grade of D or F or withdrew from course

Mean Exam Performance

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Unit Exams Final Exam

Hybrid, Fall

Traditional

Online

Performance differences Traditional/Hybrid & Online section p<.05 Hybrid & Traditional p = .19

66% 68%78%76% 76% 81%

Performance on Core Items in Common Final Exam – Fall 2011

0

20

40

60

80

100

Percent correct

ONLINE78%

TRAD68%

HYBRID65%F

HYBRID67%W

HYBRID69%M

No significant differences, except with online section

Academic Integrity?

• Online students scored an average of 4% higher than hybrid on unit exams.

• Online students scored an average of 9% higher than hybrid on the final exam.

• Only online students took the final exam online; other sections took the final exam in a proctored setting.

• Extra 5% boost = a measure of online cheating?

Why the Online Advantage?Year in School FR SO JR SR OtherOnline 5% 46% 22% 25% 2%Hybrid 50% 34% 10% 5% 1%Traditional 35% 49% 10% 5% 1%

GPA by Instructional type Hybrid SectionsOnline 2.97 Mon 2.74Hybrid 2.66 Wed 2.68Traditional 2.83 Fri 2.55

MPL ResourcesMedia assignments (4) are due before 9:00 AM

on class days. Class meets at 11:00 AM. Media Assignments were modified.

Chapter examsOnline exams (created question pools)Extra Credit (3 short writing assignments)E-Text/Audio TextQuick QuizzesDid use Study Plan, but discontinued

Student Satisfaction Surveys

Spring 2011Three surveys Beginning, Middle, End 6 pts Extra Credit – 2 each survey

Fall 2011One survey at end of term 4 pts Extra Credit

All surveys anonymous except notice of completion to instructor.

Student SatisfactionHybrid Traditional

OnlineN = 492 N = 218 N = 61

MPL contributed to my success in course? -Yes 69% 46% 57%Recommend MPL to

friends, other students?- Yes 67% 57% 64%Wish other Psychology

professors used MPL? - Yes 53% 45% 53%MPL added value to

this course? - Yes 69% 51% 64%Compared to traditional

format, like hybrid better 49% NA NA

What did you like best about this class?• I loved the assignments I had to do. They were fun and I

definitely learned more from doing them.

• I actually enjoyed the Hybrid Course a lot. It was a new and refreshing way of learning material.

• I liked how a lot of it was online but there was one class a week to where you could ask questions if you had any.

• Multiple attempts helped me practice and master the material more instead of just comprehending it

• The fact it was one day a week and we had a lot of tools to help us prepare for the chapter exams.

Student comments Fall 2011

What would you tell little brother or sister ?

• It's a good class to take if you have the self-discipline to do work on your own time without anyone being on your back about it.

• You need to sit down and take the time to study. just because you only go to class one day doesn't mean you should spend less time studying for it.

• To keep up with all of the web work and to read all of the required chapters in a timely manner.

• I would tell them to take it. The hands-on help given by MyPsychLab makes learning easier.

Student comments Fall 2011

What We Learned About Students

• Not technologically sophisticated!• Working on one’s own does not necessarily equate

to taking increased responsibility for learning.• Meeting a deadline is new to many students.• They have great imaginations.• Reading directions is a foreign concept.• Students may chase points, not knowledge.

ExperiencesFaculty role now focused more by curriculum design and course management than sage on the stage.

Hybrid is more work initially.Student/faculty interaction is more individual than class-basedA lot of time spent helping students solve technical problems. Lack of trust in teaching assistants. (Campus Ambassador program will help.)

Final SuggestionsThis is a learning experience for students as well as faculty.Be open to new ways of thinking about learning.Be comfortable with change.Be prepared for some negative feelings, frustration, and in the end a real feeling of accomplishment.Create a team – 3 is a good number

a student oriented one who likes the big pictureone who is good on the details

Questions? Sue C. [email protected]