Goodbye Carrot, Hello Transformation:

Towards a Transformational Approach to Engaging Faculty in Online Learning

NERCOMP 2007

March 19-21, 2007

Worcester, MA

Co-Authors:

Victoria Matthew & Rebecca E. Werner

Copyright Victoria Matthew & Rebecca Werner, 2007. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is

given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author

EDU-2480   Introduction to Online Teaching   

This course introduces learners to the pedagogy, methodology,and facilitation methods necessary for effective onlineinstruction. Topics will include:

-online course design-facilitating online dialogue-using the Web as a resource-building community -collaborative learning in the online classroom-evaluating the progress of students in online courses

A carrot is preferable to a stick . . .

– Applying *and* believing is ideal!

– More buy in= More faculty

…but transformation is better!

Course Design

Aligned with Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory.

Faculty are encouraged to:

– Become aware of their assumptions,

– Reassess, critically discuss, and reflect upon their assumptions

– Develop and act upon new perspectives into online learning become aware of their assumptions

Is Our Online Teaching Course Effective?

• Content Analysis of discussion boards, blogs, and CCV wiki

• Validity & Reliability:– 4,584 individual data points– 2 researchers evaluating data independently– faculty interviews

Arriving at Definitions for Different Types of Learning

• Surface Learning• Applied Learning• Transformative Learning

– Awareness of Assumptions– Reassessment/Cognitive Dissonance– Synthesis & Development of New

Perspectives/Taking Action

~ Taylor, Marienau, and Fiddler in Developing Adult Learners (2000).

Sample Coding Summary

Transcript

Surface or Reproductive

Learning

Applied or

Preparatory-to-Action

Learning

Deep, Reconstru

ctive or Transformative

Learning

A

Awareness of

Assumptions

B

Reassessment &

Cognitive Dissonanc

e

C

Synthesis &

Development of New

Perspectives, Taking

Action

Student's answer Re: Question 3.1: Creating a discussion question

The discussion question I posed here is based on an activity I do in my f2f class. I believe that the type of discussion question I pose has elements from Bruner's Constructivist, Cross's Adult Learning and Knowles' Andragogy theories. Students are expected to use their own knowledge and experiences to create a response. They are choosing and converting information and making judgments. The question also involves aspects of critical, constructive and higher order thinking.

I am not sure that I have tapped into a variety of learning styles as this really asks students to create a response in writing. Soo here it is - moral judgment discussion question

The New York Times Magazine editor called you. He knows that you have been discussing issues of what is important in SEI for the last three weeks. He would like you to stand in for his regular The Ethicist columnist, Randy Cohen, who is on Sabbatical. He sent you the following letter which is the central part of the column: Where we live, hunting is common. When our two school-age children are invited to a friend's home, we tell those parents that because a relative of ours was injured in a gun accident, we do not allow our children in homes where guns are kept and then ask if they keep guns. We are polite, but play on their sympathy. Our problem: the story is a lie: no such relative, so such accident. But asking straight out is not as likely to net us the truth. Are we justified in lying? Anonymous, Ohio. Think about all the discussions we have had about how one decides what is important and when it is okay to lie. What response will you give to these parents? Please be sure to use your own personal experiences as well as ideas/thoughts to develop this answer. Be sure to include answers to the following questions:

Last name, First Name

Overall Results

Figure 2. Percentage of each learning category by week

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

Surface Learning

Applied Learning

Transformative Learning

Figure 1. Overall percentages of classified textual dialogue

Applied Learning

49%

SurfaceLearning

26%

Transformative Learning

25%

Observations of Transformative Dialogue

Figure 3. Number of observations each week indicating a transformative learning process

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1 2 3 4 5

Weeks

Ob

serv

atio

ns

Awareness/Assumptions

Cognitive Dissonance/Reassessment

Synthesis/Taking Action

All TransformativeLearning

Relationship Between Transformative & Applied Learning

Figure 4: Percentages of Transformative Learning

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

Week Number

Perce

ntage

of Te

xtual

Dialog

Figure 5: Percentages of Applied Learning

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5

Week Number

Perc

entag

es of

textu

al dia

log

The Importance of Reflection

I think you have to take the time to reflect. I think our lives are too busy, so if we’re not forced to do it, we won’t take the time to do it…[we’d] just keep moving forward and if [we] don’t take that time to reflect, which is incredibly important, then we don’t really learn. (Anonymous Faculty Member, personal communication, August 28, 2006).

Wikis & Blogs Make a Difference!

Figure 5. Transformative Learning dialogue per participant

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Courses withoutBlogs & Wikis

Courses usingBlogs & Wikis

Average textual references per participant

Faculty Move Towards Transformation When…

• An environment is created where they feel free and are encouraged to explore and reflect on their thinking and assumptions.

• They are presented with experiences that challenge these assumptions.

• They are engaged in a personally relevant ways.

• They are engaged in learning activities that take them outside of their comfort zone.

Questions?

Victoria MatthewDirector of Winter & Summer Sessions,

University of Massachusetts, Amherst vmatthew@contined.umass.edu

Rebecca WernerAssociate Academic Dean,

Community College of Vermont, wernerr@ccv.edu

CCV Wiki: http://wiki.ccv.edu/index.php/Transformative_Learning