I'm not sure how many of you subscribe to the Learning MarketSpace,
but the first article in tis month's issue online is quite thought-
provoking. I will delete the remainder, less interesting to me at
least, so that you can focus on what Ohio State is doing in an
introductory Statistics course to use technology and innovation to
target 3,000 students in a customized form. read on, please.
dick walters
Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 15:47:42 -0400
To: LFORUM-L@lists.rpi.edu
From: "Carol A. Twigg" <twiggc@rpi.edu>
Subject: The Learning MarketSpace, August 1, 2001
****************************************************************************
Written monthly by Bob Heterick and Carol Twigg, The Learning
MarketSpace provides leading-edge assessment of and future-oriented
thinking about issues and developments concerning the nexus of
higher education and information technology.
****************************************************************************
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
In the October 2000 issue of The Learning MarketSpace, we discussed
the phenomenon of =93technique lagging behind technology.=94 We
observed that most of today=92s Web-based courses represent simple
transferences of techniques designed for the on-campus classroom to
the on-line environment. Rather than replicating what we=92ve done in the
past, we said, let=92s think about how to create new learning environments
that take advantage of the capabilities of communications technologies
and the Internet.
Our colleagues at Ohio State University are doing just that. Under the
auspices of the Pew Grant Program in Course Redesign, OSU plans to
redesign Introductory Statistical Concepts, a five-credit course enrolling
3,250 students each year. And in the process, they have come up with a
new metaphor that captures how we ought to be thinking about online
learning environments.
Ohio State=92s redesign will implement a =93buffet=94 strategy, offering=
students
an assortment of interchangeable paths that match their individual
learning styles, abilities, and tastes to approach each stage of the course
and learn each course objective. Like the emporium metaphor employed
by Virginia Tech, a =93buffet=94 suggests a large variety of offerings that=
can
be customized to fit the needs of the individual learner.
OSU develops the metaphor as follows. Research in learning theory tells
us that students are more likely to comprehend and retain the concepts
under study when they have 1) a real, vivid, and familiar example to
anchor the concept, 2) a second less familiar example to demonstrate
wide applicability to alternate contexts, 3) a means to discover the
general principle, and 4) practice working with the concept. These four
stages are the appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert of a full meal. Since
students learn in different ways, even the best =93fixed-menu=94 of teaching
strategies will fail for some students, even if those strategies offer the
=93full meal=94 of these four learning stages for every course goal.
In contrast, OSU=92s =93buffet=94 of learning opportunities will include=
lectures,
individual discovery laboratories (in-class and Web-based), team/group
discovery laboratories, individual and group review (both live and
remote), small group study sessions, videos, remedial/pre-
requisite/procedure training modules, contacts for study groups, oral and
written presentations, active large-group problem-solving, homework
assignments (TA graded or self-graded), and individual and group
projects. Thus, for a specific objective, students may choose to hear and
discuss a familiar vivid example in lecture, view and read about a real
example in an annotated video presentation, encounter an example in a
group problem-solving session, or generate an example through a group
project. Students may elect to practice working with a concept in a data
analysis laboratory, in an individual Web-based activity, in a facilitated
study session, or by explaining it to others in a jigsaw-formatted review.
The buffet strategy can also accommodate choice in the sequence in
which these four stages are presented. For example, it will match the
learning style of students who learn better by starting with the big picture
and moving to specific examples as well as students who learn by
starting with specifics and moving to the general principle.
To promote commitment to follow-through and to enable efficient tracking
of their progress, students will enter into an online "contract" that
captures their choice of learning modes at the beginning of each of four
units of study. Students will receive an initial in-class orientation that
provides information about the buffet structure, the course content, the
learning contract, the purpose of the learning styles and study skills
assessments, and the various ways that they might choose to learn the
material. Out of class, they will complete online learning styles and study
skills instruments and receive a report of their results as well as
directions on how to use this information to build the online course
contract.
Students will initially be given a set of default study options generated by
software to match their learning styles and study skills, which can be
changed according to student preferences. The finished contract will give
each student a detailed listing of what needs to be accomplished, how it
relates to the learning objectives of the unit and when each part of the
assignment must be completed, leading up to the unit test three weeks
later. Based on their own experiences in the initial unit and on reading
student testimonials from earlier quarters, students may decide to make
changes in their contracts for subsequent units.
The course software will monitor student progress on an individualized
basis throughout each unit, providing a variety of learning activities and
suggesting alternate learning strategies. For example, if a student
shows a deficiency in a low-stakes quiz, the software will suggest an
alternate approach to learning the objective involved. In one case, she
may be directed to a study session covering the topic involved. In a
second case, she may be directed to an applet activity that was not
included in her original assignment.
Teaching styles and capabilities also vary, and the buffet approach
allows Ohio State to better match the TAs who support the course with
the delivery options for which they have a talent. TAs who do well in
one-on-one help but have not yet mastered the management of whole
class discussions can facilitate study sessions or provide individual help
during problem-solving sessions. TAs who have a talent for facilitating
small group discussions and managing the dynamics of a hands-on
laboratory experiment should utilize these skills and not be overburdened
with grading duties. This supply side match, coupled with the student
demand side match, will greatly individualize the instructional process
even though the course has a very large enrollment.
Using technology to manage course administration and monitor weekly
progress reports and diagnostics will also allow OSU to move to a
modular course format. Students will be able to earn from one to five
credits based on successful module completion. By requiring students to
demonstrate a passing level proficiency in one unit before proceeding to
the next, severe deficiencies will be identified and addressed early,
resulting in a lower failure/withdrawal rate. Thus, the several hundred
students who now fall behind and feel compelled to withdraw will have
the option of demonstrating proficiency without having to drop all five
credits. Analysis of previous data on drops shows that OSU will be able
to eliminate one-fourth of the course repetitions, thereby opening slots
for an additional 150 students per year.
Two factors in Ohio State=92s strategy are key: the collective commitment
of the statistics faculty to work on the course as a whole and the
capabilities provided by information technology. Would it be possible for
a single professor offering an online class to develop such a creative,
comprehensive, learner-centered design? Perhaps, if he spent most of
his career working on it. Would it be possible for Ohio State to offer this
buffet of learning opportunities to more than 3,000 students annually
without the aid of information technology? Most certainly not.
Many believe that mass customization is emerging as the organizing
business principle of the 21st century. Internet-based e-commerce now
makes it possible, for example, for customers to order computers
designed to their exact needs and specifications, obtain customized
home mortgages and compile music CDs containing any combination of
songs. By offering students a buffet of learning opportunities that may be
customized to their learning needs, Ohio State is pointing the way to a
21st century approach to online learning, one that, we believe, will soon
make today=92s online fixed meals a distant memory.
[For more information about Ohio State=92s redesign project, please see
http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewGrant/RD3%20Award/Ohio.html.]
--CAT
_______________
comments?
dick walters
--UAA25705.997241152/calla.cs.ucdavis.edu--
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