Shining a Flashlight on Teaching and Learning with the Web

1. Shining a Flashlight on Teaching and Learning with the Web Dr. Craig M. Ross Department of Recreation & Park Administration cmross@indiana.edu

2. Rising Use of Technology in Instruction “...incoming college students expect to receive technology in the classroom just as much as they expect to receive a library card to use the library.”

3. “New technologies seldom support old working practices...they tend to undermine existing practices and demand new ones.” (Gavin, 1999)

4. Presentation Overview • Background • Pieces of the puzzle • Teaching, learning, and technology • Research purpose • Seven Principles of Good Practice • Flashlight Program overview • Study overview • Methodology • Results • Conclusions • Discussion

5. Pieces of the Puzzle HPER Teaching Learning Technology

6. Research Purpose • To study the impact of web-enhanced course delivery methods on undergraduate teaching and learning from a student and faculty perspective • A web-enhanced course was defined as a course that is taught in a classroom and is supplemented with course related information delivered on the internet. These include lectures/notes on the web, on-line gradebook and quizzes, chat rooms, discussion boards, web links, e-mail, etc. • Specifically: • Impact on teaching and learning practice across a number of courses in School of HPER • Foster Seven Principles for Good Practice • Perceived impact on learning – students/faculty • Learner satisfaction • Most and least useful features • Greatest barriers/benefits to faculty

7. Seven Principles For Good Practice in Undergraduate Education 1. Frequent Student-Faculty Contact • “Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement.” 2. Cooperation Among Students • “Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo race.” 3. Active Learning • “Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sitting in classes listening to a teacher, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and spitting out answers.” 4. Give Prompt Feedback • “Knowing what you know and don’t know focuses learning. Students need appropriate feedback on performance.” (Arthur Chickering & Zelda Gamson, AAHE Bulletin, March 1987)

8. Seven Principles For Good Practice in Undergraduate Education (Cont’d) 5. Time on Task • “Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task.” 6. Communicate High Expectations • “Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for everyone.” 7. Respect Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning • “There are many roads to learning. People bring different talents and types of learning to college.” (Arthur Chickering & Zelda Gamson, AAHE Bulletin, March 1987)

9. Flashlight Program Model (http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/flashlight.html)

10. HPER Students and Faculty • Students • # of students: 1,515 • 53% male 47% female • BS Degree Programs: 3 with 19 undergraduate major emphases • Avg credit hour load: 13.39 hrs/semester • Avg class size: 40 students • Faculty • #: 62 full-time • Departments • Applied Health Science • Kinesiology • Recreation & Park Administration

11. Study Population and Methodology • Spring 2002 • Student survey: • 53 item in-class survey • 18 sections of students in courses of 13 instructors • Total number of students enrolled: 1,050 • Items drawn from Flashlight Current Student Inventory • Focus groups • Faculty survey: • Full-time faculty • Currently using web enhancements • 24 item mail survey • Focus groups

12. Student Demographics • 737 survey respondents (70.2%) • Applied Health Science – 17.5% (129) • Kinesiology – 19.5% (144) • Recreation & Park Adm – 20.2% (149) • Other – 42.7% (315) • Gender • Female: 68.9% Male: 31.1%

13. Students by Class Level (n=737)

14. Students by Age (n=737)

15. Student Computer Skills

16. Prerequisites for Using Technology

17. How Often Students Log Into Course Web Site

18. WWW Browser Used

19. Personal Computer Owned by Students

20. Overall Usefulness of Web-Enhancements

21. Active Learning Blue=faculty response

22. Student/Faculty Collaboration

23. Time on Task

24. Perceived Impact on Learning

25. Other Student Perspectives

26. Faculty Demographics • Number of faculty: 12 • Department: • Applied Health Science: 5 • Kinesiology: 3 • Recreation & Park Adm: 4 • Academic rank: • Professor: 1 • Associate Professor: 5 • Assistant Professor: 6 • Tenure status: • Pre-tenure: 4 • Tenured: 5 • Non-tenure track: 3

27. Faculty Demographics • Average number of years teaching: 12.5 years • Own a personal computer: 100.0% • Internet access at home: 100.0% • Update course web site: 66.6% at least once per/wk

28. Faculty Computer Skills • Faculty member skills compared to colleagues and students

29. Time Spent Using Web-Enhancements +3.08 hrs/wk

30. The Seven Principles Revisited.... Faculty Perspectives

31. The Seven Principles Revisited.... Faculty Perspectives

32. The Seven Principles Revisited.... Faculty Perspectives

33. The Seven Principles Revisited.... Faculty Perspectives

34. The Seven Principles Revisited.... Faculty Perspectives

35. The Seven Principles Revisited.... Faculty Perspectives

36. The Seven Principles Revisited.... Faculty Perspectives

37. Faculty Perspective... Greatest barrier(s) to you as an instructor using web enhancements? Time involved in maintaining course material on the Web (58.3%) Time involved in responding to student email (50.0%) Time involved in redesigning teaching approaches (41.7%) Preference for face-to-face student-instructor interactions (41.7%) Student’s inexperience with computers and FTP (40.1%)

38. Faculty Perspective... Greatest benefit(s) to you as an instructor using web enhancements? Keeping the course organized (91.7%) Ability to keep students informed about the course (83.3%) Convenience to using the Web (83.3%) Access to enriched teaching materials (75.0%) Time – responding to email

39. Faculty Perspective... Did Your Approach to Teaching or Your Teaching Practices Change as a Result of the Way You Used Web-Enhancements? • “Yes, more prep time involved but worth the time for student learning and communication.” • “Yes. I’m much more aware of how students receive and access information.” • “Yes. My expectations of student familiarity with the course material is higher. Increase in the time that I spend in class on key concepts as opposed to descriptive material.” • “Web-enhancements allow a variety of teaching/learning styles to be successful.” • “Allows students to be proactive.” • “Better able to track student progress from anywhere.” • “Email from students can be overwhelming!” • “Made assumption that students had web notes/overheads.” • “I think my lectures are more boring to students since they have access to the notes....I think it makes me more dependent on the technology.”

40. Faculty Perspective... How Did Your Use of Web-Enhancements Affect the Students’ Learning Experience? • “Able to communicate to all students outside of class time.” • “My course content includes a large amount of terminology which is a barrier to learning the concepts. The web-enhancements that I implemented tends to increase the exposure of the student to familiarity and terminology so the key concepts are easier taught.” • “Web-enhancements have affected student learning by improving students’ abilities to organize course information through on-line lecture notes.” • “By having lecture outline/materials available to students before class reduces copying time and increases listening time in class. • “Better able to focus on discussion rather than taking notes.” • “Less face-to-face interaction with students.” • “Student access to lecture notes seem to negatively impact attendance....don’t seem to pay attention.” • “Students appear to be neglecting non-web based educational materials…..anything not quick!” Positive Negative

41. Conclusions • Student computer skills • adequate keyboard/typing skills • adequate computer skills • Student computer access • Adequate Internet access at home • Desktop/laptop ownership • Computer cluster support • Preferred web browser • Internet Explorer • Majority of students were satisfied with the web-enhancements used in their course

42. Conclusions • Student perspective ??? Online quizzes, discussion, chat room Notes, course readings, external links to course related content Communication in terms of online gradebook, assignments, and announcements Most Useful

43. Conclusions • Faculty perspective: • While still positive, not as strongly supportive of learning outcomes as students • Enhanced several of the Seven Principles. However, more study needed on: • Collaboration among students • Time on task • Diverse talents and ways of learning • Also experienced the value of better communication with the students

44. What Did We Learn/Gain? • Hands-on experience in using the Flashlight tool • Positive results regarding the use of web-enhanced course delivery methods • Useful findings to share with other faculty and instructional support staff to improve practices and outcomes • Ideas for future studies • Part-time faculty • Non-web users • Use of Flashlight online survey instrument • Graduate education • Cost analysis • Other uses of technology (ie Oncourse, PowerPoint, etc.) • Development of a website for faculty to improve online teaching (See Virginia Tech)

45. “Effective Uses of Online Course Tools”Virginia Tech University

46. Discussion, Comments, .... Thank You