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Removing the Boxes
John Wager and
Allen Salzman
Triton College
There’s NOTHING wrong with boxes! Without them, we’d be out of a job and couldn’t organize our offices!
Removing the BoxesWithout boxes, this is what YOUR office would look like:
Francis Bacon’s studio, at the time of the artist’s death
Problems to Solve:• Low initial enrollment in some online
sections
Problems to Solve:• Lower than expected course
completion rates; higher rates of students leaving the courses
Problems to Solve:• On-line student reports of feeling
isolated and being unconnected with campus
Problems to Solve:• Student reports of inability to finish
on-campus classes due to changing work schedules or missed classes
Problems to Solve:• Student difficulty reading primary
sources, and often coming to on-campus class unprepared
Problems to Solve:• Student reluctance to take another
on-line class without some familiarity with the teacher or course content
Problems to Solve:• Faculty perception of a need to help
students connect knowledge in one discipline with other disciplines
Boxes of our Own Making
On-Line On-CampusStudents Students
Boxes of our Own Making
• On-Campus “sections” and on-line “sections” had been separate;
Solutions:
• 5 seats were set aside in “on-campus” sections for “on-line” students.
• The daily calendar for on-campus sections was made available to on-line students so they knew exactly what their classmates were doing on any given day.
• The “calendar” feature of WebCT was used to link to the on-campus daily syllabus.
• Faculty developed detailed printed daily calendar for the connected classes.
• The daily syllabus was put on-line for on-campus students.
• WebBoard used experimentally for on-campus students.
• WebCT used to offer courses to on-line students.
• WebCT used for both on-line and on-campus students in integrated sections.
Steps to Get There:
• Our registration database contained a field for “combined with” originally used for non-credit students.
• This was used to set aside 5 seats (of 25) for net students.
Mechanics:
Results:
• It didn’t matter how few on-line students enrolled; even one or two students could take an on-line class.
Results:• Several on-campus students
reported the only way they were able to complete the term was by doing part of their work on-line.
• Data for on-line students is incomplete, but retention rates were higher.
Results:
• About 3/5ths of the on-line students did come to their “section” to attend a class or attend a performance of a local play with their on-campus classmates.
Results:
• Dr. Terry Fencl, the theater professor, said “There is no such thing as an absence in my class; a student has to do the work in one place or the other.”
Results:
• On-line students had a large enough class to conduct discussions, and on-campus students were motivated to use the computer to communicate with on-line students.
Boxes of our Own Making
Philosophy Sociology Students Students
Solutions:
• Ethics-Theatre-Sociology links built into each course encouraged students to see interdisciplinary connections as well as get a “preview” of other linked courses.
Results:
• Students reported that one of the best things about the program was the “interdisciplinary links” both on campus and on line.
• On-line students enrolled in another linked class with greater frequency than they enrolled in other classes.
Boxes of our Own Making
Textbooks Web Resources
Solutions:
• A “guided tutorial” for the readings was set up, especially for ethics.
•More like “tutorial” than hypertext
•Doesn’t require constant faculty response
•Tracks detailed picture of student reading
Guided Readings
Results:
• On-line students showed a much better grasp of difficult readings than on-campus students as measured by the quizzes given to both.
Removing the Boxes
•ON-Campus -- On-Line Boxes•Ethics -- Theater Courses•On-Line Resources -- Textbook
Removing the Boxes
•Ethics -- Theater Courses•On-Line Resources -- Textbook
Removing the Boxes
•On-Line Resources -- Textbook
Removing the Boxes
John Wager and
Allen Salzman
Triton College
http://www.triton.cc.il.us/undergrad_ctr/