WINTER 2017 BLEND@UW - Blended Learning Toolkit · web design, active learning, blended learning, course design, Google Apps, use of third-party applications, group collaboration,

WINTER 2017BLEND@UW

blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/

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TABLE OF CONTENTSBlend@UW Syllabus 4 DAY ONE Course Design & Objectives 6 DAY TWO Evidence of Understanding & Learning Activities 22 DAY THREE Learning Activity Design & Support Resources 36 DAY FOUR Course Integration & Preparation 46 DAY FIVE Evaluation of Course Design 60 Final Course Map 67

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BLEND@UW SYLLABUSDESCRIPTION

Blend@UW is a one-week series that supports Educational Innovation by helping faculty design blended courses that foster deeper, more active learning for students.

COURSE OBJECTIVES ●● Design quality blended courses.

●● Know what tools and services are available for course development.

●● Get useful feedback from facilitators and peers.

●● Apply the concept of blended learning to a course.

●● Implement backward design.

●● Articulate course and unit objectives.

●● Identify course structures that support course objectives.

●● Design assessment approaches that provide useful student feedback.

●● Design teaching and learning activities that support course/unit objectives.

●● Design teaching and learning activities that encourage deeper, active, and student-centered learning.

●● Design teaching and learning activities that leverage affordances of each delivery modality.

●● Create an evaluation plan to support iterative design principles.

COURSE DELIVERABLESThe main deliverable of the Blend@UW series is the development of a course map. This map will provide a detailed understanding of how the course will operate, the kinds of activities needed to support course objectives, and an understanding of the types of technologies needed to develop those activities. The course map is due one week after the course is over.

TIME COMMITMENTBlend@UW is offered as a blended course. There are online activities in place of a face-to-face class. There are also in-person meetings. Online activities should be completed by class time. In addition to the in-class meeting, you should expect to spend an additional 3-4 hours working on online and course activities.

COURSE ATTENDANCEAttendance is on the honor system. It is understood that participants may have scheduling conflicts from time to time. Please email the course instructors at [email protected] to let them know that you will not be attending.

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STIPEND FOR PARTICIPATIONYou will receive a stipend for $500 for your participation in the Blend@UW program. The stipend is an internal transfer of funds from DoIT to your department that will take place upon successful completion of course activities. Stipends are not paid out directly to you. They are intended for professional development or the collection of materials and resources necessary for implementing your blended learning course design plan. Check with your department’s financial specialist for further information about how these funds can be spent.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT●● Problems accessing content should be reported to the DoIT Help Desk @ 264-HELP.

●● Questions about the course should be sent to [email protected].

CLASS LISTSERVS●● [email protected] = Blend@UW Participants

●● [email protected] = Blend@UW Instructors

COURSE INSTRUCTORSTIMMO DUGDALESenior Learning Technology Consultant, DoIT Academic Technology

Timmo has worked at UW-Madison since 1994 – first as a librarian at College Library, then working at DoIT from 1996 to date. Timmo was the Director of the New Media Center program from 1996 - 2000, and now is a Senior Learning Technology Consultant for DoIT Academic Technology from 2000 to date. Timmo is the Program Manager for the Blend@UW Course Design Program, Blended Learning Fellowship Program, and the Blended Learning Toolkit. He also provides general consulting on a number of topics including: web design, active learning, blended learning, course design, Google Apps, use of third-party applications, group collaboration, digital media assignments, case scenarios, and other presentation technologies.

CID FREITAGSenior Learning Technology Consultant, DoIT Academic Technology

Cid has worked in instructional technology since 1998, and joined DoIT in 2001. Her areas of experience are in instructional design for online learning, project management, information design, and visual communication. Prior to working in instructional technology Cid had a career as a cartographer for the USGS and still has a great fondness for maps and other forms of visualized data. Outside of the university, Cid is an artist working with photo montage and digital photo manipulation.

STEEL WAGSTAFFInstructional Technology Consultant, L&S Learning Support Services

Steel currently works as an Instructional Technology Consultant for Learning Support Services in the College of Letters & Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It’s a great job, and he feels very fortunate to work with wonderful colleagues. He holds graduate degrees in both Library and Information Studies and English (Literary Studies with an emphasis in Creative Writing). In 2011, he completed a three-field preliminary examination (20th Century American Poetry, 20th Century North American Prose, and Environmental Criticism & Theory) and is writing a dissertation focusing on the writing of several “Objectivist” poets (Lorine Niedecker, George Oppen, Louis Zukofsky, Charles Reznikoff, Basil Bunting, and Carl Rakosi).

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DAY ONE COURSE DESIGN & OBJECTIVESUNIT OBJECTIVES●● UO1: Identify the situational factors that affect your

course redesign.

●● UO2: Review UW-Madison Essential Learning Outcomes.

●● UO3: Identify the structure of strong course and unit objectives.

●● UO4: Create strong unit objectives that support course objectives.

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Day One Module

CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Welcome / Introductions / Program Overview

●● Situational Factors

●● Situational Factors Activity

●● Course Structure

●● Break

●● Course and Unit Objectives

●● Writing Strong Objectives Activity

●● Essential Learning Outcomes

●● Gap Analysis Activity

●● Finish and Complete Survey

POST-CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Work on course map.

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BLENDED LEARNING MODELSIn the article “Improving Learning and Reducing Costs: New Models for Online Learning”, Carole Twigg, Director of the National Center for Academic Transformation, developed five categories for changing the way we teach to realize cost savings. Three of these models (supplemental, replacement, and emporium) are most commonly referred to as blended learning models, and examples of them can be found across the UW-Madison campus.

Download article: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/resources/

BLENDED LEARNING MODELSSUPPLEMENTAL MODEL ●● “Retains the basic structure of the traditional course, particularly the number of class meetings.”

●● May simply supplement lectures and textbooks with “technology-based, out-of-class activities to encourage greater student engagement with course content” and to ensure that students are prepared when they come to class.

●● May add technology-based, out-of-class activities and also change what goes on in the class by creating an active learning environment within a large lecture hall setting (Twigg 30-32).

REPLACEMENT MODEL●● Reduces the number of in-class meetings but does not eliminate all in-class meetings.

●● Replaces (rather than supplements) some in-class time with “online, interactive learning activities.”

●● Gives careful consideration to “why (and how often) classes need to meet” face-to-face.

●● Assumes that “certain activities can be better accomplished online, individually or in small groups, than in a [face-to-face] class” (Twigg 33).

EMPORIUM MODEL●● “Eliminates all [lectures] and replaces them with a learning resource center model featuring [interactive

software] and on-demand personalized assistance.”

●● Depends heavily “on instructional software, including interactive tutorials, . . . practice exercises, solutions to frequently asked questions, and online quizzes” and tests.

●● “Allows students to choose . . . what types of learning materials to use depending on their needs, and how quickly to work through the materials.”

●● Uses a staffing model that combines faculty, teaching assistants, peer tutors and others who “respond directly” to students’ specific needs and “direct [them] to resources from which they can learn.”

●● May require “a significant commitment of space and equipment” (Twigg 34-35).

ACTIVE LEARNINGUW-Madison's Educational Innovation initiative has identified a number of campus goals. The first goal calls for "pervasive active learning to improve the student experience." Blended learning can support this goal through the creation of activities that use a combination of face-to-face and online modalities to engage students.

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In the book Creating Significant Learning Experiences, L. Dee Fink defines three components of passive and active learning that can help us see how blended design can facilitate greater student engagement. Fink identifies three components of active learning: Receiving Information and Ideas, Experiencing (Doing and Observing), and Reflecting and Making of Meaning (Fink 116-117).

RECEIVING INFORMATION & IDEAS“Passive learning refers to what happens for students when they listen to a lecture or read a book: they receive information and ideas. This is an important part of learning, but by itself, it is very limited and limiting” (Fink 116). When students are given materials to read or they listen to a lecture, they are getting new information and ideas presented to them that have already been analyzed and processed by others in ways that the instructor hopes will facilitate learning. These approaches are, mostly, passive and indirect. More direct approaches might have students read original content and examine original data that has yet to be analyzed and interpreted by others.

EXPERIENCING (DOING AND OBSERVING)DOING EXPERIENCESStudents engage in a real action in an authentic setting. It is not always possible to provide students with direct experience, however, so instructors create indirect doing experiences, such as case studies, gaming, simulations, and role playing. In each case, students are engaged in the kind of activity that the course is preparing them to engage in after the course is over. These activities are done without risk of consequence and can provide valuable formative assessment opportunities (Fink 116).

OBSERVING EXPERIENCESObserving experiences occur “whenever a learner watches or listens to someone else doing something related to what they are learning. This [could include an instructor demonstrating] something . . . listening to other professionals perform . . . or observing the phenomena being studied. Observing gives [students] a chance to experience the reality of the phenomena they are studying” (Fink 117).

REFLECTING AND MAKING OF MEANING“People are meaning-making beings. We make meaning based on our experiences and on the information and ideas we encounter. . . . Whenever someone has a new experience or encounters a new idea, those events automatically have an initial meaning. But this initial meaning may remain buried at the unconscious or subconscious level. When this happens, the meaning may be limited, distorted, . . . destructive [or incorrect]. As humans, we have the capacity to change the meaning of our ideas and experiences—but only when we pull our original meanings up to the conscious level and reflect on what new meaning we want those ideas or experiences to have” (Fink 117-118).

“After students have encountered new information and ideas and had new doing or observing experiences, they need time to reflect in order to decide what meaning to give these other learning activities. Without this reflection, they have learned something but they have not made that learning fully meaningful to themselves” (Fink 122).

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BACKWARD DESIGN MODELThe key to a successful blended course is planning and good design. The resources below represent a process called backward design in which one starts with the desired outcomes and moves through the process to design engaging activities and assessments that support those outcomes. These resources have been created to help those new to the idea of blended learning and those who prefer to learn independently become oriented to ideas and concepts related to blended learning design. The model we are using in Blend@UW is a slightly modified version of the Twelve Steps of Integrated Course Design model (Fink 74-75) developed by L. Dee Fink in his book Creating Significant Learning Experiences.

STEP TASK SCHEDULESTEP 1 Identify important situational factors. DAY 1STEP 2 Identify important course objectives. STEP 3 Create thematic structure for the course. STEP 4 Identify important unit objectives.STEP 5 Identify evidence of understanding. DAY TWO & THREESTEP 6 Select effective teaching and learning activities. STEP 7 Make sure the course components are integrated. DAY FOURSTEP 8 Debug possible problems using concept of instructor roles.STEP 9 Plan the evaluation of the course design. DAY FIVE

STEP 1: IDENTIFY SITUATIONAL FACTORS Whether designing a new course or redesigning an existing course, the first step is to identify and review the situational factors that affect the major design components. Fink identifies these components as learning goals, feedback & assessment, and teaching & learning activities. If situational factors are not taken into account while developing these components, you run the risk of developing a course that doesn’t work for the students, doesn’t meet institutional goals, and doesn’t achieve the course objectives. Fink (76-77) identifies the following situational factors to consider.

NATURE OF THE SUBJECT●● “Is this subject matter convergent (working

toward a single right answer) or divergent (working toward multiple, equally valid interpretations)?

●● Is this subject primarily cognitive or does it include the learning of significant physical skills as well?

●● Is the field of study relatively stable, in a period of rapid change, or are competing paradigms are challenging each other?” (Fink 77).

EXPECTATIONS OF EXTERNAL GROUPS●● “What does society at large need and expect

in terms of the education of these students, in general or with regard to this particular subject?

●● Are there accreditation requirements that affect the goals of this [course]?

●● What curricular goals does the institution or department have that affect this course?” (Fink 76).

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LEARNERS●● “What is the life situation of the students at the moment: full-time student, part-time working student,

family responsibilities, work responsibilities, and the like?

●● What life or professional goals do students have that relate to this [course]?

●● What are their reasons for enrolling?

●● What prior experiences, knowledge, skills, and attitudes do the students have regarding the subject?

●● What are the students’ learning styles?” (Fink 77).

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TEACHER●● “What prior experiences, knowledge, skills, and attitudes [do you] have in terms of . . . this course?

●● [Have you] taught this subject before or is this the first time?

●● Will [you] teach this course again in the future or is this the last time?

●● [Do you] have a high level of competence in this subject or is [it] on the margins of [your] zone of competence?

●● What prior experiences, knowledge, skills, and attitudes [do you] have in terms of the process of teaching?” (Fink 77).

SPECIAL PEDAGOGICAL CHALLENGE●● “What is the special situation in this course that challenges the students and [you] in the desire to make

this a meaningful and important learning experience?” (Fink 77).

ITERATIVE DESIGNCourse design for blended learning is complex. It requires a tight integration of in-class and out-of-class learning activities. Obviously, your first blended lesson won’t be absolutely perfect. There will be needed tweaks. The design of a successful blended course emerges through numerous iterations. Throughout this course, we will encourage you to iterate on your instructional design starting at the course level all the way down to creating learning activities for lessons. This is done by creating numerous rapid rough drafts. We also encourage sharing your rough draft designs with others in the class. Getting feedback from colleagues will help you fine-tune your instructional design by catching things you didn’t see early in your design process when they’re easier to adjust.

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TERMINOLOGYThere are a lot of different terms used to discuss course design. All these terms have significant meaning and utility. Unfortunately, there is no universal agreement on their meaning and usage. For our class projects and discussions, using a common language with agreed-upon meanings can help avoid confusion. The terms below will be used extensively throughout this class. Statements describing objectives are used at all levels of course design to describe desired student performance. It’s important to keep in mind that these terms, when used effectively, focus on what is called outcome-based teaching.

COURSE OBJECTIVESCourse objectives are the achieved results. They state what learners should be able to do, know, and value at the end of your course. One key characteristic of objectives is that they can be observed in some way. Well-articulated objectives serve as a guide to us as we (re)design a course.

●● EXAMPLE: At the completion of this course students will be able to explain the five most common teaching challenges for first-time instructors of university courses.

●● EXAMPLE: Students will create strong activities and assessment strategies to address those challenges.

UNIT OBJECTIVESUnit objectives state precisely what learners should be able to do, know, and/or value following a subset of the course. Unit objectives influence the selection of content and learning activities. They drive assessment by validating that instruction actually accomplished what it was intended to do. Because of this, they are stated in terms of observable and measurable behaviors of learners.

●● EXAMPLE: Using satellite imagery, the student will be able to identify and explain phenomena involved in the transfer of atmospheric water to surface stores by completing the worksheet questions.

STEP 2: IDENTIFY COURSE OBJECTIVESThe first step of blended course design is to identify your course objectives. Course objectives are the “achieved results.” They state what learners should be able to do, know, and value at the end of your course. One key characteristic of objectives is that they can be observed in some way. Articulated objectives serve as a guide to us as we (re)design a course. Below is a model developed by Dee Fink to help in the development of strong course objectives.

CATEGORIES OF SIGNIFICANT LEARNINGFink identifies six categories of significant learning when developing course objectives.

●● Foundational Knowledge – “At the base of most other kinds of learning is the need for students to know something. Knowing, as used here, refers to students’ ability to understand and remember specific information and ideas.”

●● Application – “Besides picking up facts and ideas, students often learn how to engage in some new kind of action, which may be intellectual, physical, or social. Learning how to engage in various kinds of thinking (critical, creative, practical) is an important form of application learning but this category of significant learning also includes developing certain skills (such as communicating, playing the piano) or learning how to manage complex projects.”

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●● Integration – “When students are able to see and understand the connections between different things, an important kind of learning has occurred. Sometimes they make connections between specific ideas, between various learning experiences, . . . or between different realms of life.”

●● Human Dimension – “When students learn something important about themselves or about others, it enables them to function and interact more effectively. They discover the personal and social implications of what they have learned. What they learn or the way in which they learn sometimes gives students a new understanding of themselves . . . a new vision of what they want to become . . . or greater confidence that they can do something important to them. At other times, they acquire a better understanding of others: how and why others act the way they do or how the learner can interact more effectively with others.”

●● Caring – “Sometimes a learning experience changes the degree to which students care about something. This may be reflected in the form of new feelings, interests, or values. Any of these changes means students now care about something to a greater degree than they did before or in a different way.”

●● Learning How to Learn – “In the course of their studies, students can also learn something about the process of learning itself. They may be learning how to be a better student, how to engage in a particular kind of inquiry, or how to become a self-directed learner. All these constitute important forms of learning how to learn” (Fink 34-36).

EXAMPLES: COURSE OBJECTIVES●● Understand and remember key

concepts, terms, relationships, and so on (Foundational).

●● Know how to use the content (Application).

●● Be able to relate this subject to other subjects (Integration).

●● Understand the personal and social implications of knowing about this subject (Human Dimension).

●● Care about the subject and about learning more on the subject (Caring).

●● Know how to keep learning about this subject after the course is over (Learning How To Learn).

VERBS FOR COURSE OBJECTIVESFoundational Knowledge Identify, Remember

Application Analyze, Assess, Calculate, Create, Critique, Do, Judge, Manage, Solve, Use

Integration Connect, Relate, Compare

Human Connection Come to see themselves as, Decide to become, Interact with others, Understand others in terms of

Caring Be more interested in, Get excited about, Value

Learning How To Learn Construct knowledge about, Create learning path, Frame questions, Identify source of information, Read and study effectively, Set learning agenda

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“To create a thematic course structure, you need to look at the whole subject of the course and identify the most important concepts, issues, topics, or themes – usually at least four and no more than seven. These topics then need to be arranged in some kind of sequence. The topics might be arranged chronologically, from simple to complex, from fundamental topics to ones that emerge from [those] fundamentals, or possibly in some other pattern. The goal is to sequence the topics so that they build on one another in a way that allows students to integrate each new idea, topic, or theme with the preceding ones as the course proceeds” (Fink 142). When laying out course units, it is important to determine how long the unit will last in the semester and what concepts or topics will be covered in that unit. For this course, a unit tends to be at least one week, and contains at least one in-class and one out-of-class activity.

UW-MADISON ESSENTIAL LEARNING OUTCOMES The UW-Madison Essential Learning Outcomes provide a framework for designing, delivering, evaluating, and improving the educational experience, and foster conversations about course design. When writing course objectives, consider how these essential learning outcomes can be reflected in your course.

UW MADISON ESSENTIAL LEARNING OUTCOMESThe UW-Madison Essential Learning Outcomes were developed to answer the basic question asked of employers, faculty, staff, and alumni: “What qualities and skills do you want in college graduates?”

Knowledge of Human Cultures & Physical World

Through study of the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts.

Intellectual and Practical Skills Inquiry and analysis; critical and creative thinking; written and oral communication; quantitative literacy; information, media, and technology literacy; teamwork and problem-solving skills.

Personal and Social Responsibility

Civic knowledge and engagement (local and global); ethical reasoning and action; foundations and skills for lifelong learning.

Integrative Learning Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies.

Download article: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/resources/

STEP 3: CREATE A THEMATIC COURSE STRUCTURE

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COURSE STRUCTURE MAPUNIT ONE UNIT TWOTOPICS TOPICS

LENGTH LENGTH

UNIT THREE UNIT FOURTOPICS TOPICS

LENGTH LENGTH

UNIT FIVE UNIT SIXTOPICS TOPICS

LENGTH LENGTH

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STEP 4: IDENTIFY UNIT OBJECTIVES The writing of good unit objectives will yield the greatest returns in the course design process. Well-constructed unit objectives help an instructor know what they want to teach, help students know what they will learn, and help the department, program, and/or institution know how the course is meeting accreditation standards.

QUALITIES OF GOOD UNIT OBJECTIVES

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY Bloom’s Taxonomy of the cognitive domain is a classification of the different objectives instructors can use to define activities that meet different cognitive levels for students. While instructors are challenged to create higher-level activities, it is important to note that these activities are dependent on students having already attained the prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels. A goal of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all levels in their course work by building a learning path for the student. With regard to the writing of good learning objectives, it is important to first determine the desired level of Bloom’s Taxonomy for the unit. Once this is determined, select an appropriate verb associated with that level.

NOTE: There are two other domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Affective and Psycho-Motor.

Good unit objectives are defined by the SMART model below.

●● SPECIFIC – the learning objective describes the knowledge, attitudes, or skills that a learner should be able to demonstrate following a learning activity.

●● MEASURABLE – the achievement of the learning objective can be measured by test items, observation, problem-solving exercises, or other assessment methods during or after an activity.

●● ATTAINABLE – the learning objective includes an action verb that demonstrates change or acquisition of knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors.

●● RELEVANT – the learning objective reflects realistic expectations of knowledge, attitude, or behavior acquisition.

●● TIME-BASED – the learning objective specifies the time frame in which learners are expected to achieve the learning objective.

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CATEGORIES●● Remember – Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory.

●● Understand/Explain – Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining.

●● Apply – Carrying out or using a procedure through executing or implementing.

●● Analyze – Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing.

●● Evaluate – Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing.

●● Create – Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY VERBSRemember Define, Describe, List, Memorize, Recall, Recognize, Repeat, Reproduce, State

Understand Classify, Discuss, Identify, Interpret, Locate, Paraphrase, Report, Summarize, Translate

Apply Choose, Demonstrate, Dramatize, Employ, Illustrate, Interpret, Operate, Schedule, Sketch, Solve, Use

Analyze Attribute, Compare, Deconstruct, Integrate, Organize, Outline, Structure

Evaluate Argue, Check, Critique, Defend, Experiment, Judge, Select, Support Test, Value

Create Assemble, Construct, Design, Develop, Formulate, Invent, Produce, Write

UNIT OBJECTIVES - EXAMPLESRemember • Describe the three primary modes of HIV transmission.

• List the orders of magnitude and what exists at different levels in relationship to other objects.

• Describe the meaning of the two key concepts of variance and correlation and recall the calculating formula.

Understand / Explain • Interpret an image using the formal analysis of construction of art.

• Summarize the results of a graph and draw conclusions based on that data.

• Interpret the findings of a lab report on water quality.

Apply • Demonstrate the use of various statistical measurements to data sets.

• Review soil composition and choose the appropriate amendments to the soil.

Analyze • Compare the composition of paints from different eras and deconstruct the elements that are shared.

• Structure an approach to collect feedback from clinical patients.

Evaluate • Take a position on animal testing and defend that position.

• Critique the argument that the use of fracking techniques is safe to humans and the environment.

Create • Review a patient case and develop a plan for patient care.

• Design a research model to study the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

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KNOWLEDGE CHECKCheck your knowledge about creating strong unit objectives by taking this quiz. Decide whether each unit objective is strong or weak.

View Case Study: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/marcy/strong-objectives-quiz/

CASE STUDY - MARCYTo guide you through the design process, we are going to use a case study. Meet Marcy. She is in the process of redesigning her course using a blended learning model. She intends to replace about half of her face-to-face class meetings with online learning activities. She wants her class time to be more interactive for the students and focused on higher level learning objectives.

A little later, we will revisit Marcy and look more closely at how she’s approaching her course redesign challenge. But before we do that, let’s discuss a few instructional design concepts.

View Case Study: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/marcy/day1/

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DAY ONE: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETSITUATIONAL FACTORSIdentify situational factors that may influence your course design.

SPECIFIC CONTEXT OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SITUATION●● How many students are in the class?

●● Is the course an upper or lower division, or graduate course?

●● In what room will the course be taught? How is it configured?

EXTERNAL EXPECTATIONS●● What does society at large expect of you in terms of educating these students?

●● Does the state or other professional organizations have relevant accreditation?

●● What curricular goals does the campus or your department have that affects this course?

SUBJECT NATURE●● Is the subject matter convergent or divergent?

●● Is the subject matter cognitive or does it include the learning of physical skills as well?

●● Is the subject matter stable, or in a period of rapid change?

LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS●● Life Situation: Full-time student, part-time student, working student, family responsibilities?

●● Goals: Life or professional goals that relate to this course?

●● Prior experience, knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding subject matter?

INSTRUCTOR CHARACTERISTICS●● Your prior experience, knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding subject matter?

●● Experience: Have you taught this class before? Will you teach it again?

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DAY ONE: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETGAP ANALYSISUse the UW-Madison Essential Learning Outcomes to inform course objectives.

UW-MADISON ESSENTIAL LEARNING OUTCOMES (ELO)Knowledge of Human Cultures & Physical World

Through study of the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts.

Intellectual and Practical Skills Inquiry and analysis; critical and creative thinking; written and oral communication; quantitative literacy; information, media, and technology literacy; teamwork and problem-solving skills.

Personal and Social Responsibility

Civic knowledge and engagement (local and global); ethical reasoning and action; foundations and skills for lifelong learning.

Integrative Learning Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies.

COURSE OBJECTIVES FROM PRE-CLASS ACTIVITY●● CO1:

●● CO2:

●● CO3:

●● CO4:

●● CO5:

●● CO6:

IDENTIFY POSSIBLE GAPS●● Step 1: Identify ELOs to incorporate into your course.

●● Step 2: Review current course objectives. Determine whether they support these ELOs.

●● Step 3: Rewrite or add new course objectives to support desired ELOs.

REVISED COURSE OBJECTIVES●● RCO1:

●● RCO2:

●● RCO3:

●● RCO4:

●● RCO5:

●● RCO6:

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DAY ONE: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETWRITING STRONG OBJECTIVES

FINK’S SIGNIFICANT LEARNING VERBSFoundational Knowledge Identify, Remember

Application Analyze, Assess, Calculate, Coordinate, Create, Critique, Do, Judge, Manage, Solve, Use

Integration Compare, Connect, Identify similarities, Integrate, Relate

Human Connection Come to see themselves as, Decide to become, Interact with others, Understand others in terms of

Caring Be more interested in, Get excited about, Value

Learning How To Learn Construct knowledge about, Create learning plan, Frame questions, Identify source of information, Read and study effectively, Set learning agenda

REVISED COURSE OBJECTIVES (RCO)

●● RCO1

●● RCO2

●● RCO3

●● RCO4

●● RCO5

●● RCO5

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY VERBSRemember Define, Describe, List, Memorize, Recall, Recognize, Repeat, Reproduce, State

Understand / Explain Classify, Discuss, Identify, Interpret, Locate, Paraphrase, Report, Summarize, Translate

Apply Choose, Demonstrate, Dramatize, Employ, Illustrate, Interpret, Operate, Schedule, Sketch, Solve, Use

Analyze Attribute, Compare, Deconstruct, Integrate, Organize, Outline, Structure

Evaluate Argue, Check, Critique, Defend, Experiment, Judge, Select, Support Test, Value

Create Assemble, Construct, Design, Develop, Formulate, Invent, Produce, Write

UNIT OBJECTIVES (UO)

●● UO1

●● UO2

●● UO3

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DAY ONE: POST-CLASS WORKSHEETCOURSE MAP

COURSE OBJECTIVES (CO)

COURSE UNITS (CU)

UNIT NAME


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DAY TWO EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDING & LEARNING ACTIVITIESUNIT OBJECTIVES●● UO1: Identify ways students can demonstrate

learning.

●● UO2: Identify ways students receive formative feedback.

●● UO3: Identify ways of communicating unit expectations.

●● UO4: Develop activities that support unit objectives.

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Day Two Module

CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Evidence of Understanding

●● Evidence of Understanding Activity

●● Break

●● Activity Design (Absorb, Do, Connect)

●● Course Activity Design Activity

●● Learning Pathway



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STEP 5: IDENTIFY EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDINGEvidence of understanding involves the collection of performance tasks or other measurements of achievement obtained via quizzes, journals, homework, and tests. Instructors should generate ideas of the types of assessments that might be suited to measure the success of a unit's design. Instructors are encouraged to use a mix of approaches that suits the subject, course, students, and teaching style. Additionally, instructors should consider how the approaches selected can be communicated to students to help them know how they will be held accountable for their learning.

REVIEW OF TERMINOLOGYIn the realm of collecting evidence of understanding, terminology abounds. It is useful to have a shared understanding of the ways in which we use related terminology. Below is a list of terminology:

●● Assessment – Focused on measuring knowledge acquisition, performances, work products, or skills developed to determine the level of mastery or attainment of learning objectives. It is the process of gathering and discussing information from multiple and diverse sources to develop a deep understanding of what students know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of a learning activity.

●● Evaluation – A systematic analysis about the quality of a unit, course, or program for the purpose of making improvements.

●● Formative Assessment – Conducted at intermediate points to give students feedback on their performance and to give students and instructors information on how students are learning.

●● Summative Assessment – Conducted at the end of a unit or course to assign a grade.

FINK’S FOUR STEPS OF EDUCATIVE ASSESSMENTAUDIT-IVE ASSESSMENT

“Teachers whose only feedback and assessment procedures are, for example, two [tests] and a final [exam] exemplify the perspective of audit-ive assessment. When this is the only feedback and assessment that occurs in a course, it serves only one function: to audit student learning as a basis for [assigning a grade]. This approach to feedback and assessment is typically based on backward-looking assessment, with exams that look back on what was covered during the last several weeks and aim simply at determining whether the student got it or not” (Fink 93).

EDUCATIVE ASSESSMENT“The primary purpose of educative assessment is to help students learn better . . . The problem is that most teachers do not know how to go beyond grading to being able to provide the kind of feedback and assessment that will enhance the learning process itself, that is, to do more than simply record the results of the learning process” (Fink 93). Fink created the following four-step approach.

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STEP ONEIDENTIFY A GOOD FORWARD-LOOKING ASSESSMENT TOOL“To create forward-looking or authentic assessment, Wiggins (1998, pp. 22, 24) recommends that teachers create questions, problems, tests, and assignments” that have the following qualities.

●● “Are realistic – The task or tasks replicate the ways in which a person’s knowledge and abilities are tested in real-world situations.”

●● “Require judgment and innovation – The student has to use knowledge and skills wisely and effectively to solve unstructured problems, such as when a plan must be designed, and the solution involves more than following a set routine or procedure or plugging in knowledge.”

●● “Ask the student to do the subject – Instead of reciting, restating, or replicating course content and prior knowledge through demonstration, the student has to carry out exploration and work within the discipline of science, history, or any other subject.”

●● Are contextual – “Replicate or simulate the contexts in which adults are tested in their workplace, in civic life, and in personal life. Contexts involve specific situations that have particular constraints, purposes, and audiences. Typical [exams] are contextless. Students need to experience what it is like to do tasks in [the] workplace and other real-life contexts, which tend to be messy and murky. In other words, genuine tasks require good judgment.”

●● Assess Use of Knowledge – “Assess the student’s ability to use a repertoire of knowledge and skills efficiently and effectively to negotiate a complex task. Most conventional test items are isolated elements of performance – similar to sideline drills in athletics rather than the integrated use of skills that a game requires. Good judgment is required here, too. Although there is, of course, a place for drill tests, performance is always more than the sum of the drills.”

●● Facilitate Practice – “Allow appropriate opportunities for students to rehearse, practice, consult resources, and get feedback on and refine performance and products. Although there is a role for the conventional secure test that keeps questions secret and keeps resource materials from students until during the test, that testing must coexist with educative assessment if students are to improve performance” (Fink 96).

STEP TWOIDENTIFY APPROPRIATE CRITERIA AND STANDARDS“In general, we do not just want students to . . . do something; we want them to do it well. That means they need to understand what well means. All assessment is an attempt to measure the quality of something and therefore, by definition, requires an appropriate criteria and standards, which together are known as a rubric” (Fink 99). One common way of providing criteria and standards is to create a rubric. Here are some steps for creating a solid rubric for an individual assignment.

RUBRICS●● “Choose an assignment that tests what you want to evaluate, and make sure you are clear about your

objectives . . .

●● Identify the criteria or traits that will count in the evaluation . . .

●● For each trait, construct a two- to five-point scale by creating descriptive statements of good and poor versions of this trait (this constitutes the standards for the assessment).

●● Try out the scale with a sample of students or with colleagues, and revise as necessary” (Walvoord and Anderson, 2010, p. 42, cited in Fink 100).

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STEP THREEPROVIDE MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SELF-ASSESSMENT“At some point, to be powerful performers in life as well as self-directed learners, students must learn how to assess the quality of their own work. This is important for psychological reasons but it is also a skill that students simply have to develop. It does not happen automatically” (Fink 103). To help students learn this skill (which is often an unstated course objective), Fink has identified three activities instructors can use to support self-assessment.

Identify relevant criteria“First, students need to acquire or develop an initial understanding of the relevant criteria and standards [being used] for assessing a particular kind of activity. What distinguishes high-quality from mediocre work in this area? Most of the time, students do not begin courses knowing the answer to this question, nor is it generally self-evident to a novice learner. One option is for a teacher to simply tell the students what the relevant criteria and standards are. But a better option, when it is possible, is to give students an opportunity to develop these criteria and standards themselves. This process can be initiated by having students brainstorm a list of criteria they think might be relevant and appropriate . . . ” (Fink 103).

Practice using the criteria on other students’ work “After students acquire or develop a primary list of relevant criteria, the next step in developing their ability to apply these criteria is to practice using them in the process of giving feedback to other students on their work. Some teachers, for example, have students read copies of other students’ draft papers and give feedback. To do this, students [must] have some sense of what constitutes a good paper and then apply those criteria to new papers, in this case, the papers of other students” (Fink 103).

Practice using the criteria on one’s own work“A third phase in this process occurs when students are able to apply performance criteria to their own work and make improvements based on that assessment . . . When student can do this effectively, they have succeeded in learning how to engage in honest self-assessment” (Fink 103).

STEP FOURPROVIDE FIDELITY FEEDBACKFrequent – “Frequent feedback occurs i n every class if possible or at least every week. The students are doing something [with the feedback they get,] usually from either the teacher or fellow learners. The widespread practice of giving feedback only in the form of two [exams] and a final is simply insufficiently frequent for high-quality learning” (Fink 106).

Immediate – “Immediate feedback occurs very close in time to the learning activity itself, if possible during the same class. The problem with delayed feedback is that students cease to care about why their answer or activity was good or not. When the feedback comes a week or more after the learning activity, they just want to know, What [did] I get?” (Fink 106).

Discriminating – “Discriminating feedback distinguishes between good and poor performance in a way that is clear to the students. Just writing OK on a paper or project is neither informative nor discriminating. To be properly discriminating, the feedback needs to be based on clear criteria and standards” (Fink 106).

Lovingly Delivered – “Lovingly delivered feedback is essential to get the message through . . . When feedback is not done in the context of a loving, caring relationship, students are not likely to hear the desired message. Instead, they will filter the message for bare facts and think, I need to do what this teacher is telling me so I can get the grade I need and get out of here, rather than, This teacher is providing me with the information I need if I want to learn and improve my ability to engage in this kind of activity, now and in the future” (Fink 106-107).

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CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are very short classroom activities that provide direct, formative, and informal assessment to help both students and instructors determine how well learning is occurring. With this knowledge, students know what materials need to be reviewed, and instructors are able to address misunderstandings before summative assessment occurs.

The following are characteristics of CATs.

●● Are done and collected in a single class period so that the instructor can analyze the responses and respond quickly.

●● Are ungraded because the purpose is to provide information about student learning.

●● Are routine to assure effective communication and timely feedback.

●● Are brief to limit student time-on-task and instructor time on analysis and feedback (done on a note card or a half-sheet).

●● Constitute both a learning activity and an assessment.

●● Stimulate meta-cognitive thinking – students reflecting on their own learning process.

Download Article: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/resources/

RUBRICS A rubric is a detailed articulation of the criteria against which student work will be judged. Rubrics are a useful tool to use in evaluation.

●● They provide a list of categories of performance to be assessed.

●● They describe levels of performance in each category.

●● They provide a method to communicate criteria for developing, revising, and judging work.

●● They make criteria transparent for purposes of effective feedback and/or grading.

In a blended course, where many learning activities occur outside of class, it is important to have clear methods of communicating to students how they are performing. There are two broad categories of rubrics:

●● Analytic Rubrics – feature a grid of criteria (columns) and levels of achievement (rows). The instructor assigns points or weights to particular criteria, then evaluates student performance in each area. View

●● Holistic Rubrics – describe characteristics of each level of performance for an assignment or activity (e.g. characteristics of an excellent research paper).

View Rubric Examples: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/resources/

RUBRIC DEVELOPMENT When planning a rubric, most instructors follow an iterative process.

●● Reviewing past examples of student work to rough out criteria and levels of performance.

●● Articulating the areas of performance at various levels of proficiency.

●● Organizing these features into a useful structure.

●● Verifying the rubric by using it to evaluate previous student work.

●● Revising to build in detail and improve communication (share with peer and student readers).

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EXAMS AS ASSESSMENTFORMATIVE EXAMS

While exams are a traditional part of almost all classes, the feedback provided by exams generally comes at a point when there is nothing a student can do to correct misunderstandings that have occurred along the way. There are ways, however, to turn exams into a formative tool.

●● Use auto-graded multiple choice quizzes in a course management tool prior to class.

●● Make these quizzes required, but assign them few points.

●● Provide solid feedback to incorrect answers.

●● Have students provide muddiest issue feedback to you at the beginning of class to seed discussion.

●● Use quiz feedback to feed classroom check-in sessions.

SUMMATIVE EXAMSTypically, exams are used to provide evidence of student learning, and they take place at the end of a unit or semester. Exams also provide an instructor feedback on how well they achieved their course and unit objectives. There are ways to ensure exams provide useful feedback to students and instructors.

●● Review learning objectives and weigh the importance of each.

●● Build exam questions that measure each learning objective.

●● Code each question with its corresponding learning objective.

●● Build the exam to match the given weight of each learning objective.

●● Provide end-of-unit surveys to students that ask them to rate how well you taught to each learning objective.

BUILDING GOOD EXAMSThe University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of Testing and Evaluation Services (T&E) is an instructional support unit that can help you develop good exams for your course. They are located at 373 Educational Sciences Building, 1025 West Johnson Street, Madison, WI 53706. Telephone: (608) 262-5863.

COMMUNICATING EXPECTATIONS Developing strong course and unit objectives and assessment techniques are for an instructor to make sure the course is working as designed. These same tools, however, can be used to explain the intended learning path for students and to help them know what is expected of them and how they will be assessed.

TIPS FOR COMMUNICATING●● At the beginning of each unit, share your unit

objectives with your students.

●● Communicate how the unit fits into your overall course design.

●● Connect activities to these unit objectives.

●● Explain the way each learning activity will be measured.

●● Share any rubrics you have developed with students.

●● Communicate a broad statement of purpose for the assignment.

●● Explain your interpretation of assessment terms, such as analyze, or critique.

●● Explain disciplinary expectations, such as processes, or style and tone.

●● Offer advice for ways to approach the assignment.

●● Review your assignment description for ambiguous wording.

Tips adapted from: Morgan, C., and O’Reilly, M. (1999). Communicating Assessment Tasks. In Assessing Open and Distance Learners (pp. 63-71). London: Kogan Page.

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STEP 6: SELECT TEACHING & LEARNING ACTIVITIESWilliam Horton’s E-Learning By Design is a very helpful resource for instructors in the design of activities for a blended environment. Instructors should think about how the different kinds of outcomes and levels of activities will help in designing the appropriate levels of complexity for course activities.

ABSORB ACTIVITIESREAD, WATCH, AND LISTEN “Absorb activities inform and inspire. [They] enable motivated learners to obtain crucial, up-to-date information they need to do their jobs or to further their learning. In absorb activities learners read, listen, and watch. These activities may sound passive, but they can be an active component of learning. Of the three types of activities (absorb, do, and connect), absorb activities are the ones closest to pure information. Absorb activities usually consist of information and the actions learners take to extract and comprehend knowledge from that information. In absorb activities, the learner may be physically passive yet mentally active – actively perceiving, processing, consolidating, considering, and judging the information” (Horton 67).

WHEN TO USE ABSORB ACTIVITIES “Because absorb activities provide information efficiently, they are ideal when learners need a little information. They are especially helpful when [learners are] just updating current knowledge . . . Absorb activities are also an efficient way to extend current knowledge and skills. Learners who understand the fundamentals of a field can increase their knowledge by absorbing new details that elaborate a theory, concept, or principle . . . Additionally, absorb activities are good partners to other kinds of activities. Often they are used to prepare learners for . . . do activit[ies]. The absorb part of the partnership orients the learner, sets the context, establishes vocabulary, introduces principles, and supplies instructions needed before the learner can engage in a highly-interactive do activity . . . Absorb activities are best for highly motivated learners. They are not inherently interesting. However, they are highly efficient for individuals who can focus their attention and are motivated enough to expend the effort” (Horton 68).

DO ACTIVITIESEXERCISE, EXPERIMENT, AND DISCOVERY “If absorb activities are the nouns, then do activities are the verbs of learning. They put people in action. They elevate learning from passive reading and watching to active seeking, selecting, and creating knowledge. Doing begets learning” (Horton 129).

WHEN TO USE DO ACTIVITIES Feature do activities to accomplish specific outcomes.

●● “Provide safe, encouraging practice to prepare learners to apply learning in the real world.

●● Motivate learners by activating curiosity for material learners might otherwise consider boring.

●● Prepare for absorb activities by showing learners how little they know about the subject and making clear the value of information they are to absorb.

●● Enable learning by exploration and discovery” (Horton 130).

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CONNECT ACTIVITIESLINK TO PRIOR LEARNING, TO WORK, AND TO LIFE “Connect activities help learners close the gap between learning and the rest of their lives. They prepare learners to apply learning in situations they encounter at work, in later learning efforts, and in their personal lives. If absorb activities are the nouns and do activities the verbs, then connect activities are the conjunctions of learning” (Horton 163).

WHEN TO USE CONNECT ACTIVITIES “Connect activities aim squarely at increasing application of learning. So use connect activities when . . .

●● Application is crucial – The success of individuals, organizations, or societies depends on learners applying skills and knowledge . . .

●● Application is not adequate – Perhaps learning is applied but not in enough depth or by enough people . . .

●● You teach a general subject – Broad principles and concepts can be applied in varied situations. You cannot include enough examples and custom activities to prepare learners to apply the learning in every possible situation they may encounter . . .

●● Learners cannot make connections by themselves – Sometimes it takes extraordinary efforts to see the connection between abstract subjects and daily life. This in the clouds stigma plagues mathematics, science, philosophy, and dozens of other subjects. Many learners lack the experience, motivation, or creativity to make connections on their own” (Horton 165).

BLOOM’S TAXONOMYBloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of the different objectives instructors can use to define activities that meet different cognitive levels for students. While instructors are challenged to create higher level activities, it is important to note that these higher level activities are dependent on students having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels. A goal of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all levels in their course work.

CATEGORIES●● Remember – Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory.

●● Understand/Explain – Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining.

●● Apply – Carrying out or using a procedure through executing, or implementing.

●● Analyze – Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing.

●● Evaluate – Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing.

●● Create – Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.

Note: There are two other domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Affective and Psychomotor.

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DESIGNING A LEARNING PATHWAYThe next step in backward design is to “integrate the course structure and the instructional strategy into an overall scheme of learning activities” (Fink 153). Learning is a process, not just a series of discrete activities. Design helps build a progression for students to move along a continuum from lower to higher levels of learning. The learning pathway example below is one model you can use to design such a continuum.

UNIT OBJECTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITY

LLEARNER ASSESSMENT

ACTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITY

Unit objectives state precisely what learners should be able to do, know, and/or value following a subset of the course.

Any type of activity in which students engage with content in ways that engage them at the desired level (using a model such as Bloom’s Taxonomy) and use the appropriate activity type (using a model such as Horton’s Types of eLearning).

Either formal or informal ways in which students are asked to demonstrate their mastery of the desired outcome of the activity. Instructor interactions with the results of this feedback are often used to feed future learner engagement.

Active learning activities build on the results of learner assessment. Activities are created to engage students in active learning to support higher learner outcomes – usually taking place in the classroom.

UNIT LEARNING PATHWAY EXAMPLE

In the example below, activities are created to support the desired unit objectives. There is a logical progression from one activity to the next. Learner assessments are designed to provide evidence of understanding. Active learning activities are identified to engage learners in higher cognitive levels. As a result, learners are guided through a thoughtful process.

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CASE STUDY - MARCYWith your help, Marcy has completed the first four steps of backward design. Marcy now has a good understanding of what she wants her students to be able to know/do/value after taking her course. She turns her attention to her first unit. She has completed her unit objectives, and she is now ready to turn her attention to the following questions:

●● How will I find out if students are able to know/do/value what I want them to?

●● How will students know how well they are doing? What types of feedback do they need?

●● How will I communicate my approaches to providing evidence of understanding to my students?

●● What kind of activities will help students accomplish my unit objectives?


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DAY TWO: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETEVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDINGWork in groups to review unit objectives. Discuss and identify ways of providing students with evidence of understanding. Identify ways to communicate these approaches to students as well.


UO1 - EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDING

UO2 – EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDING

UO3 – EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDING

COMMUNICATION PLAN

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DAY TWO: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETCOURSE ACTIVITY DESIGNUse the table below to identify the design elements for each activity.


ACTIVITY 1 Description

Unit Objectives Supported

Horton Activity Type

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level

Evidence of Understanding











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DAY TWO: POST-CLASS WORKSHEETCOURSE MAP


UNIT OBJECTIVES (UO) | UNIT TITLE

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DAY TWO: POST-CLASS WORKSHEETCOURSE MAP (CONTINUED)

ACTIVITY 1Description















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DAY THREE LEARNING ACTIVITY DESIGN & SUPPORT RESOURCESUNIT OBJECTIVES●● UO1: Identify activities that support unit objectives

and guide learning.

●● UO2: Identify types of technologies to be used to deliver activities.

●● UO3: Identify available support models to assist in course development.

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Day Three Module

CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Absorb (Passive) Activities

●● Absorb Demonstration

●● Break

●● Case Studies Demo

●● Do/Connect (Active) Activities

●● Support



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ACTIVE LEARNING TECHNIQUESInstructors who want to encourage active learning need to be comfortable with a dynamic classroom environment. Active learning does not require long course redesign, however. Instructors can leverage a few active learning approaches and weave them into their classrooms when they see an opportunity. Below are some examples of types of classroom activities along with active learning strategies that could be used at any time with little or no prep time. Examples will be contextualized by type of classrooms necessary to facilitate these approaches.

ASSESSING PRIOR KNOWLEDGEMINUTE PAPER

Set aside five minutes at the beginning of class and have students answer two questions prior to lecture: What was the most important thing I learned after completing the readings? What important question remains unanswered? (Angelo) (Faust and Paulson)

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Understand/Explain

MUDDIEST POINT

At the beginning of class, hand out note cards. Have students answer one question they had about the pre-class reading/content: What was the muddiest point in the reading? (Angelo) (Faust and Paulson)


LECTURE APPROACHESBRIEF SUMMARY

Pause during lecture and ask students to write brief summary of an idea, or define terms. Ask for a student to share their summary. This will encourage active listening and synthesis skills. (Hodges)


THINK/PAIR/SHARE

Students work together to solve a problem or answer a question about a concept. This technique requires students to (1) think individually about a topic or answer to a question; and (2) share ideas with classmates. (Angelo)


SHOW YOUR PROCESS

Model your metacognitive processes as you solve problems in lecture. (Example: Ask questions like: What are the principles involved in this problem?

What constraints are there? What are other ways of thinking about this?) (Hodges)

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Apply

CLARIFICATION PAUSES

During the lecture, after stating an important point or defining a key concept, the instructor pauses to

let the material sink in. After a short time passes, the instructor asks if anyone needs have anything clarified. (Faust and Paulson)


QUIZ QUESTIONS

Before class, students are given notecards. After lecture, students are asked to write one or two questions about the content that could appear on the quiz. (Faust and Paulson)


FINGER SIGNALS / HAND-HELD RESPONSE CARDS

Students respond to instructor questions during lecture by using a finger signal in front of their torso so students can’t see others’ responses. (Example: 1 finger=yes, 2 fingers=no) Option 2: Students respond to instructor questions by using a color-coded cards. (Faust and Paulson)


COMPREHENSION CHECK

The instructors stops midway in the lecture and has students spend two minutes to write a short list of everything they know about the topic. Ask a few students to share their results. (FSU)


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CLASSROOM DISCUSSIONWHY QUESTIONS

Either during or after lecture, provide students elaborative interrogation (Why questions) on key aspects of content. (Workflow example: Provide a paragraph of key content from a reading. State a key concept from the reading. Ask students, “Why is that true”?) (Hodges)

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Evaluate

DECONTEXTUALIZED LEARNING

Mix up questions and problems from different units/chapters to decontextualize learning. Ask questions that draw upon and force students to make connections between units to highlight the interconnectedness of course content. (Hodges)


EXPLAINING NOT SOLVING

Ask students to describe their thinking on a problem. Get students with different approaches, solutions, or rationales to explain and defend their thinking. The instructor’s role is to ask questions and provide guidance when students are on the wrong track. Having students describe their process their process without the instructor commenting reinforces the idea that problem solving is a process to think through, not steps to memorize. (Hodges)


AFFECTIVE RESPONSE

Ask students to report their reaction to some facet of course material and have them note their emotive or evaluative response to a concept. (Faust and Paulson)


STUDENT ANSWERS

Instead of rephrasing an answer a student gives to a question, the instructor asks the other students to evaluate the answer or asks a similar question to the class. (Faust and Paulson)

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Analyze

SUMMARIZE ANSWERS

When a student gives an answer to a question, ask another student to summarize the other student’s response. (Faust and Paulson)


QUESTIONING SESSIONS

After the lecture. spend time asking students the following kinds of questions:

●● Comprehension: Rephrase the concept I covered

●● Application: What is an example of …

●● Analysis: Compare and contrast … What evidence is there for…

●● Synthesis: What would the result be if …How would you create/design…

●● Evaluation: What are your points of agreement / disagreement? Why? FSU)

Bloom’s Taxonomy: All

GROUP DISCUSSIONSANALYSIS OF PROBLEMS

Have students get into pairs. Give them a problem to analyze. There are two roles the solver and the questioner. The solver analyzes the problem step by step. The questioner asks clarifying questions or point out if/when the other made a mistake (but not reveal what the mistake was). You may decide to have students record and answer some of the questions they posed during the activity as a way to ensure the time spent was productive. (Hodges)


CHALLENGING PROBLEMS

Break students up in groups to work on a problem that helps them apply the content. Have students work on challenging problems that has the following characteristics: (it is a significant problem; there is a specific choice of answer; provide the same problem for all groups; and simultaneously report their answers. (Example: Predict the results of a real experiment or case study). (Hodges)


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FISH BOWL

The instructor gives students notecards before class starts. After lecture, students are given time to write down one question they still have. Groups form and students share their question with others and try to solve the problem or resolve the question.

(Faust and Paulson)


LECTURE REACTION

Break students into groups of four based on the following roles and the following tasks Have each group report back to the class.

●● Questioners: Ask two questions related to the lecture

●● Example Givers: must provide examples that apply to the lecture content.

●● Divergents: Must disagree with some point in the lecture.

●● Agreers: explain a point they agreed with or found helpful. (FSU)


BLENDER

Students independently write a definition or brainstorm an idea. They form groups of two or three. Two members read their ideas and integrate elements of both into one statement. The third person reads his/her idea and it is integrated. They report out their statement. (FSU)

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Create

PARAPHRASING

Students pair up. The first student explains a concept covered in the lecture. The other student then rephrases what they heard. They switch roles. (FSU)


BIBLIOGRAPHY●● Angelo, Thomas A., 1954-. Classroom

Assessment Techniques : a Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco :Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993. Print.

●● Faust, Jennifer L., and Paulson, Donald R. “Active Learning in the College Classroom.” Journal on Excellence in College Teaching 9.2 (1998): 3-24. Web.

●● Florida State University. Instruction at FSU: A Guide to Teaching & Learning Practices. Chapter 8: Using Active Learning. <URL: https://distance.fsu.edu/docs/instruction_at_fsu/Chptr8.pdf>

●● Hodges, Linda C., 1951- author. Teaching Undergraduate Science : a Guide to Overcoming Obsstacles to Student Learning. Sterling, Virginia :Stylus Publishing, 2015. Print.

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CASE STUDIESIn class, we will be spending time looking at a particular kind of activity that can engage students in multiple levels of learning and can be an important tool in building a student's learning pathway. The link to the video below provides an introduction as to how cases are being used in the classroom at UW-Madison.View video at: https://mediaspace.wisc.edu/media/CSCR_Video/0_nn2bub5l

CASE STUDY EXAMPLESCASE 3 – SCHOOL OF EDUCATIONMin-Chi Yan, Aaron Perzigian, Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, Social Studies and Diverse Learners

Min-Chi Yan and Aaron Perzigian are teaching assistants in Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education. Together, they teach RPSE 194-404: Methods in Teaching Science and Social Studies for Students with Disabilities, a one-credit, five-week blended course. They are creating interactive case scenarios in which students play the role of a special education teacher in Oshrang High School.

View Case Study: https://cscr.blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/exemplars/minchi-perzigian/socialstudies/

CASE 4 – COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL & LIFE SCIENCESMonica Theis, Department of Food Science, Responding to Consumer Concerns: Artificial Colorants

Food Science 321: Food Law and Regulations provides students with a broader understanding of the profession of food science by situating domestic practice within a global context.

View Case Study: https://cscr.blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/exemplars/theis/foodsci/

CASE 1 - LAW SCHOOLMeredith Ross, Law, LAW 726 Introduction to Substantive Criminal Law

In this exercise, students begin to develop the ability to review the evidence in a criminal trial through a legal lens and practice the analytical steps required to consider a motion to dismiss the charged offense, as well as a motion for a lesser included offense instruction.

View Case Study at: https://cscr.blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/exemplars/ross/gibbs/

CASE 2 - SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTHKevin Wyne, Department of Family Medicine, Physician Assistant Clinical Encounters (PACE)

This project was created for thirty-eight students in the Physicians Assistant Program PA 648: Emergency Medicine, who will enter the Emergency room for a practicum next semester. “A Day in the ED” will be available in Moodle for students in PA 718: Professional Seminar & Capstone II, for students who have already entered the ER rotation.

View Case Study at: https://cscr.blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/exemplars/wyne/ed/

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BLENDED LEARNING TOOLKITIn class, we will be talking about support models, so we wanted to give you a chance to familiarize yourselves with an important campus resource. The Blended Learning Toolkit was created to highlight resources, provide examples, and build community around blended learning efforts on campus. The Blended Learning Toolkit is organized around the following topics:

●● BLOG – Stories, articles, and other blended learning news.

●● WHO – Who is blending on campus?●● WHAT – What is blended learning at UW-

Madison? ●● WHY – Why should I blend my course? ●● WHERE – Where to get help?●● WHEN – When are event offered?●● HOW – How can I blend my course?●● BLEND@UW – Curriculum for Blend@UW

Course Design Program.●● CAMPUS TOOLKITS – Specialized resources

for each school/college/institute/division.View Blended Learning Toolkit at:

https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu

AVAILABLE SERVICESOnce you complete the Blend@UW series and begin your course development phase, you may require further assistance. The Blended Learning Toolkit lists most centrally-supported resources, as well as a list for you to find support resources within your school/college/institute/division.

GETTING STARTEDIf you have questions at any time, your first step should be to contact DoIT Academic Technology. We will triage your case and direct you to the appropriate person.

●● PHONE: 262-5667

●● EMAIL: [email protected]

View Support Resources Page: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/where/

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SUPPORTED TECHNOLOGIESTool selection is an important part of building a sustainable course design. It will determine the level of support you receive, the level of support your students receive, and how robust and reliable that support will be. The Blended Learning Toolkit identifies a list of tools supported centrally by DoIT Academic Technology. Familiarize yourselves with these tools. If you want to use a tool not on this list, that is fine, but be sure to talk to a DoIT Academic Technology consultant to make sure you have a solid support plan. The criteria used are:

●● Technical support is available from DoIT Help Desk.

●● Technical training is available from DoIT Academic Technology.

●● In-class support and training are available through DoIT Software Training for Students.

●● Consultations are available with DoIT Academic Technology.

●● Campus licensing makes them available at no cost to campus users.

●● Available on Windows and Mac operating systems.

View Supported Technologies list: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/where/supported-technologies/

THIRD PARTY APPSWhen instructors find that tools supported by UW-Madison do not meet their instructional needs, they may consider using non-UW-Madison applications and services. While campus-provided applications and services meet UW-Madison guidelines for privacy, intellectual property, security, and records retention, providers of non-UW-Madison applications and services may not. This resource will review the UW-Madison policy and provide guidance to those considering the use of non-UW-Madison applications and services, as well to those who are already using them.

POLICY 1 - USECOMMUNICATE PLANS TO USE NON-UW-MADISON APPLICATIONS TO STUDENTSInstructors should communicate their intent to use non-UW-Madison applications and services, along with a summary of issues, conditions, and risks to students, in the course syllabus and Course Guide. This allows a student to decide whether to withdraw from the course, or request alternate solutions. Consider that withdrawal from the course may not be possible because the course is required, the course is offered in a sequence, the course is not offered regularly, or the course is only offered by one instructor. The decision to use non-UW-Madison applications and services should not create an unnecessary burden for students who do not agree to the conditions of use. Instructors should weigh the needs of the course activity against the student’s privacy rights. Refer students concerned about their privacy to the Dean of Students office.

GUIDANCE Use of tools not supported by UW-Madison carries risks. You should tell your students about your plans to use these types of technologies as soon as possible – preferably in the first class session. Each student has the right to review those risks and determine whether they want to assume those risks in order to participate in your class activity. If they do not want to assume those risks, you should take one of these actions.

●● Find a way to accommodate them such that they can have an equal opportunity to learn and participate.

●● Allow them to withdraw if there are opportunities for them to take the class from another instructor.

●● If you are the only instructor and you cannot find a way to accommodate other ways for the student to participate, you should reconsider your use of that tool.

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POLICY 2 – TERMS OF SERVICEUNDERSTAND THE RISKS TO YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS●● Providers of non-UW-Madison applications and services may require the user to agree to a Terms of

Service agreement, which is a legal contract. Neither instructors nor students are authorized to enter into legal contracts on behalf of the UW. As a result, they become personally responsible for the terms of the agreement and any problems that may arise.

●● Providers of non-UW-Madison applications and services may reserve the right to change their Terms of Service at will. Instructors should check the Terms of Service agreement periodically to ensure that the agreement is acceptable.

●● UW-Madison has signed agreements for use of some specific non-UW-Madison applications and services and there is no need for instructors or students to sign an agreement directly with the provider. Contact [email protected] for a list of existing campus agreements.

●● Contact the Office of Administrative Legal Services at 263-7400 for assistance understanding the conditions and risks associated with using non-UW-Madison applications or services.

GUIDANCE

Each person who signs the Terms of Service does so as an individual and not as a member of UW-Madison. If legal challenges arise related to use of that technology, you may be liable as an individual. Keep in mind that most terms of services have clauses which specify the state in which any legal cases will be heard. Don’t assume it will be the state of Wisconsin. Talk to UW Legal Services if you want further guidance on evaluating the Terms of Service document before you decide to use a technology. Know that the level of protection you may receive as an instructor may be different than the protections students may receive. If you want to know whether a technology is covered by a UW-Madison agreement, email the CIO office and ask. They will be glad to assist you.

POLICY 3 – INTELLECTUAL PROPERTYUNDERSTAND WHO OWNS CONTENT AND WHAT THEY CAN DO WITH ITReview Terms of Service agreement.

●● Who owns the intellectual property rights when content is created or uploaded?

●● Does the service provider claim any rights to use content created or uploaded?

●● If there is a right of use claim, when and how are these rights terminated?

●● Identify content as “© 20XX The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents” when appropriate.

●● Students should use of copyrighted materials appropriately, particularly when they are publicly available.

●● Recognize that placing content on a non-UW-Madison application or service may constitute “publication” of intellectual property and may inhibit publication of work through other means.

GUIDANCEMost Terms of Service will include a statement that tells you whether you retain ownership. Some will also state that while you retain ownership, they reserve some right to use your content in some way for some period of time. Look at this statement and determine whether you are comfortable with it. It is a good idea to provide a copyright statement on your content to be explicit as to whom the copyright owner is. Be aware that most Terms of Service have clauses that spell out what they will do in the case of a copyright infringement. In some cases, accounts will be frozen or deleted with little or no notice until the issue is resolved. For a student, this can be a significant risk.

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POLICY 4 – RETENTION, ACCESSIBILITY, SUPPORT, AND RECOVERY COMPLY WITH REGULATIONS AND CAMPUS POLICIES●● Ensure that records can be retrieved from the non-UW-Madison application or service provider, if

necessary. All UW-Madison business records are subject to public records law, regardless of where they are stored.

●● Ensure university records are retained according to departmentally defined records retention schedule.

●● Back up materials residing on non-UW-Madison applications and services regularly. Many providers assume no responsibility for archiving content.

●● Consider support needs. Campus support models may not resolve technical issues that arise while using non-UW-Madison applications and services. Users may be required to deal with service provider.

GUIDANCEIn some cases, content created and stored may be considered part of a student’s course record. There are UW-Madison policies that spell out what types of content need to be saved and for how long. In some cases the Terms of Service will spell out how often their content is backed up and/or how to retrieve content that is lost. If it does not, don’t assume that retrieval of content is possible. Back up content yourself and advice students to do the same. Think about where students will go if they have technical problems. If the tool is not supported by UW-Madison, the Help Desk will probably not be able to assist in any meaningful way. Contact the company prior to using the tool and determine their support.

MOVING FORWARDIn most cases, there are no clear answers that can be given with regard to formal recommendations of non-UW-Madison applications and services. That said, here is a recommended work flow you can follow:

●● Ask your IT Support staff for your school/college/institute/division. They may be able to help you make some sense of things and provide some guidance.

●● Contact DoIT Academic Technology ([email protected] or 262-5667) .

●● Contact the CIO office ([email protected] or 262-8874) and ask if an application is covered by a campus agreement. This help them know what technologies are being used on campus.

●● Contact UW Legal Services (263-7400) and ask for assistance.

CASE STUDY - MARCYWith your help, Marcy has completed the first five steps of backward design. She is currently in Step 6: Select effective teaching and learning activities. Marcy has a good understanding of the types of activities she should facilitate in her class, and she is starting to dig into designing her activities a bit more.


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DAY THREE: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETCOURSE ACTIVITY TYPES


Sequence Pre-Class, In-Class, Post-Class

Possible Technologies

Instructor Presence

Student Feedback




Instructor Presence

Student Feedback




Instructor Presence

Student Feedback

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DAY FOUR COURSE INTEGRATION & PREPARATIONUNIT OBJECTIVES●● UO1: Define a clear flow between activities.

●● UO2: Examine the roles instructors play in blended courses.

●● UO3: Plan activities that address and integrate the instructor roles.

●● UO4: Identify obstacles and plan ways to address them.

●● UO5: Prepare for course delivery by updating Course Guide and requesting classroom spaces.

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Day Four Module

CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Activity Flow

●● Flow Activity

●● Break

●● Instructor Roles

●● Student Challenges Worksheet

●● Course Guide Demo

●● Classroom Spaces



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STEP 7: INTEGRATION OF COMPONENTSStep 7 in Fink’s book Creating Significant Learning Experiences addresses the need to have activities integrated. In a blended course, it is assumed that traditional receiving activities are supplemented with activities that engage students in active learning. It is also assumed that classroom activities will both prepare students for activities to come and build on learning outcomes of past activities. The diagram below was created by the UW-Madison Blended Learning Fellowship members in 2014, and combines several models covered so far. The purpose of these models is to develop a learning path for students that is structured in ways that lead to deeper learning and greater mastery and depth of understanding.

ACTIVITY FLOWTo ensure that activities flow, we use Fink’s Castle Top model. This model calls for instructors to design learning activities and use the Castle Top to ensure that the activities flow and support the desired learning objectives. Fink identifies the following sequence of activities.

●● Pre-Class Activities – Present new information and facilitate building of knowledge. Prepare students for further activities that encourage deeper learning. Often pre-class activities include some reflection students do that is tied to in-class activities.

●● In-Class Activities – Build on foundational knowledge developed in pre-class activities. May address misunderstandings, questions, or reflections that took place before class.

●● Post-Class Activities – Facilitate reflection, application, evaluation, and/or synthesis of learning that has already taken place.

In building the course, there is a “need for differentiation and integration” among learning activities. The need for differentiation shows up in two ways.

●● “The course needs variety in the types of learning activities . . . Courses in which all the class sessions do more or less the same thing have a low level of differentiation.

●● The course needs a pattern of development in the [level of] complexity and challenge . . . As students move through the sequence of topics, they need to work on problems and tasks that become increasingly more complex and reflect the interaction among the topics encountered” (Fink 154).

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STEP 8: DEBUG COURSE USING INSTRUCTOR ROLESTaken from The Role of Online Instructors/Facilitators. Download article: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/resources/

SOCIAL ROLEKEY CONSIDERATIONS●● Focus on cultivating student participation

online and in class; be precise and clear with your students about what type and level of participation this should be.

●● Integrate online and in-class discussions, topics, and responses as much as possible to streamline course content.

●● Promote community building, between you and your students and amongst your students.

●● Define and enforce expectations for language, interactions, and online interpersonal communication.

ADDRESSING CONCERNS●● Encourage students to reply to each others’

questions, to work in teams, and to report back to class with information from the online portion of the activity/class.

●● Post rules and model behavior for the type of interactions that you expect (how formal, informal, etc.) and what type of etiquette accompanies these.

●● Allow students enough time to digest, reflect, and produce their own analytical responses and thoughts.

●● Grade for participation, and encourage those who don’t talk as much in class to participate more online.

PEDAGOGICAL ROLEKEY CONSIDERATIONS●● Develop questions and activities that suit your

course goals and help students think critically.

●● Foster student interactions that provide room for students to personalize their contributions and that encourage peer-to-peer response.

●● Explore the various ways in which instructor participation can help or hinder any particular activity.

●● Be attentive to assessment and targeted assessment strategies that parallel the design of your activity.

ADDRESSING CHALLENGESThere are a number of ways to address these key considerations.

●● Make efforts to integrate the online and the in-class time as much as possible so that students understand and benefit from both environments.

●● Use the online environment as a source for in-class lecture/discussion topics, and mine the online interactions and/or discussion boards for concepts that aren’t clear and need to be rediscussed in class.

●● Replace some existing face-to-face elements of the activity in order to account for the time spent online.

●● Develop an assessment strategy that forces thorough consideration of pedagogical goals.

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MANAGERIAL ROLE KEY CONSIDERATIONS●● Ensure students have the right skills and

information to fully participate.

●● Establish a rhythm for your activities sequence by thoughtfully timing deadlines for online activity elements.

●● Communicate clear and consistent expectations to the students.

●● Define ground rules for respectful interactions.

ADDRESSING CHALLENGES●● Establish an FAQ section about course

procedures, expectations, discussion rules, and other likely administrative questions. By doing this in the course site itself (and in a discussion forum), you can respond to questions that might come up over and over again in a space that is visible to the whole class, avoiding the need to address each similar question on an individual basis. This will also be a way to provide examples of good online communication and model expectations for language and style.

●● Include guidelines and rubrics on how an activity will be assessed and make these accessible on the course site.

●● To manage your time as an instructor (and therefore to manage the activities more easily), set up online office hours or a time block during which you’ll be active in the online environment (when applicable) when you can facilitate and respond to student questions.

●● In line with replacing assignments in your syllabus to allow for more student focus on the online elements of the activity (as mentioned under the pedagogical role), consider requiring a portfolio or a semester-long assignment that students would be required to curate and submit that pulls together portions of their online work. This puts many of the responsibilities and management on the students and requires them to be acutely aware of the expectations of the online work in order to hand in a good portfolio.

TECHNICAL ROLEKEY CONSIDERATIONS●● Review key features of UW-supported online

tools, including Learn@UW.

●● Consider options for student training and support, like campus-supported student training sessions, Lynda.com, or other distributed training resources.

●● Equip students with a guide to access the online tools and a backup plan in case of an outage.

●● Briefly explain the function and purpose of the online space/tool and its role in the course (either in person in your first class or on the syllabus) so that you get buy-in from the students.

ADDRESSING CHALLENGESThe technological role can be tricky because we often take for granted that this generation of students is well informed and equipped enough to work with any online learning tool. Additionally, it’s impossible to plan for every technical glitch that might pop up. In order to help navigate this role, offer as much support in advance of an activity as you can.

●● Provide instructions on how to access the online environment or course site.

●● Keep these instructions simple, and to the extent possible, link all navigation through one main course site to streamline any navigation for your students; if you use multiple learning management tools or systems in your course (for the discussions or for the course as a whole), funnel these links and access points through one main course portal.

●● Walk your students through the process of how to access the necessary tools on your own or with the help of STS (Software Training for Students) or another UW campus resource.

●● Create a training resource page on the course site that lists ways for students to find support and referrals to on-campus support services.

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STUDENT CHALLENGESBlended activities – and the blended environment overall – can present some challenges for students, especially while they are getting used to learning in this new, more active context. Some common challenges are listed.

●● Students don’t always understand the relationship between the face-to-face and online components.

●● Some students aren’t equipped with the skills to understand their responsibility in active learning strategies.

●● Students often need help with time management in a blended or active learning environment.

●● Some students need help understanding the concept of reduced seat time. They do not consider time in the classroom to be work. However, time spent online outside the classroom is work, and they have more work at home in a blended course (Aycock, Garnham, & Kaleta, 2002).

ADDRESSING CHALLENGESThink about some of the student challenges or obstacles that you have encountered in a blended learning environment or that you imagine you might encounter in redesigning your particular course. What are these, and what was the specific context around them? (How or when did they reveal themselves in your class? Was it one student or a handful of students?) What were some strategies that you used to address these challenges?

During class, we will discuss some teaching scenario videos that capture many of these student challenges and present a few instructor strategies for how to overcome these challenges or ways in which an instructor can modify an activity in anticipation of these challenges.

PROMOTING YOUR COURSEThe UW-Madison Course Guide is where students go to find all relevant information about available courses. Instructors of blended courses should know what content is presented and what content can be changed or customized to describe and promote their course.

Course Guide: http://my.wisc.edu - Select Teaching tab, then Faculty Center.

OFFICIAL COURSE DESCRIPTIONThe official course description presented to students is created during the course approval process. While this may describe the content being presented in the course, it might not provide a good description of the ways in which your blended course is being delivered.

INSTRUCTOR PROVIDED INFORMATIONThe Instructor Provided Content (IPC) section of the Course Guide allows an instructor to enter additional information to be displayed to students without any approval processes. The IPC can vary from semester to semester and each section can have unique IPC provided. All content placed in an IPC section can be searched by students – making it easier for you to market your course effectively. Courses with IPC provided can be viewed by clicking the red instructor icon.

View Course Guide Tutorial: https://kb.wisc.edu/enrollment/page.php?id=16990

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COURSE DESCRIPTIONEnter the description of the course being taught. This description often differs from the official course description that has been approved by the divisional committee with the original course proposal. Be sure to describe in your own words the course material that an enrolled student would expect to learn when attending the class.

TOPICS/SCHEDULEInstructors can provide an outline and schedule of the content being presented during the course

KEYWORDSInstructors can provide additional search terms that will help students find their course.

CLASS FORMATSince campus has not yet provided official ways to tag courses as blended, this section is critical. Instructors should be as specific as possible regarding the way in which their blended course is designed including

when/if some class time will be replaced with online interactions.

LEARNING OUTCOMESInstructors can list what learners should expect to learn or be able to do as a result of taking the class. Participants of Blend@UW should think of this section by the term course objectives instead of learning outcomes.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESInstructors can add any additional links to relevant content such as course or instructor website.

CLASSROOM REQUESTThis document breaks down the process you will need to use to request classroom spaces that support your blended learning needs.

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CLASSROOMSThe Office of the Registrar and the Space Management Office’s Classroom Scheduling Policies state that they will “match special academic requirements with available classroom facilities.” “Special academic requirements and curricular content/methodology [such as blended courses] are appropriate for special facilities requests [such as certain types of classrooms, classroom equipment, or other special considerations] and will be given priority in the classroom assignment process.”

General assignment classrooms information: http://www2.fpm.wisc.edu/support/Classrooms/Classrooms.htm

CLASSROOM USE CATEGORIESThe Definitions for Seating/Function/Use/SubUse Codes document from the Space Management Office uses 110 – CLASSROOM code for classroom spaces. A typical classroom has fixed tables and chairs arranged in rows facing forward. Often it has an instructor station, chalkboard, screen, etc., at the front of the room. While many are larger rooms with cantilevered seating, there are some rooms with movable tables and chairs that could be used to accommodate many blended learning activities. Refer to the Seating Types section for a list of seating type codes that can be used in your general classroom request to get appropriate classroom space.

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CLASSROOM REQUESTSThese requests go through your department representative.

View Contact Information: https://registrar.wisc.edu/classroom_scheduling.htm

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COLLABORATIVE LEARNING SPACESCollaborative Learning spaces are defined as rooms used primarily by regularly scheduled classes that require special-purpose equipment for student participation, experimentation, observation, or practice in a field of study.

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ROOMS REQUEST●● Special Facility Form: http://registrar.wisc.edu/documents/Special_facility_request.pdf

●● Classroom List: https://blendedtoolkit.wisc.edu/blenduw/resources/

WISCEL ROOM REQUEST●● Request from here: http://www.wiscel.wisc.edu/apply

STERLING HALL ROOMS REQUESTS●● Request from here: http://www.wiscel.wisc.edu/other-requests-and-reservations

CLASSROOM SEATING CATEGORIESThe Definitions for Seating/Function/Use/Subuse Codes document from the Space Management Office provides the following seating types. Some of these are appropriate for most blended learning courses.

CODE DESCRIPTION IMAGEClsrmT&C Classroom Table (fixed) and Chairs (fixed)

Fixed tables and chairs arranged in rows facing forward. Often has instructor station, chalkboard, screen, etc., at front of the room. Typically larger rooms with cantilevered seating. This room type is not ideal for active learning activities, but it can be used to facilitate pair/share activities and classroom discussions.

ClsrmT&C-fx&mv Classroom Tables (fixed) and Chairs (movable) Fixed tables with chairs that are not fixed to the floor. This room type is ideal for blended courses in that chairs can be configured in many different ways to facilitate many types of blended activities.

ClsrmT&C–mv Classroom Tables (movable) and Chairs (movable) Movable tables and chairs designed to fit in a room in rows. This room type is ideal for blended courses in that tables and chairs can be configured in many different ways to facilitate many types of blended activities.

TableArmC Tablet Armchairs Movable chairs with attached writing surfaces. This room type is ideal for discussions and some group work but the lack of writing surface is not friendly for computer-based activities.

Seminar Seminar Seating Movable tables and chairs that can be configured in various configurations. This room type is ideal for class discussion or group work based on the flexible spaces and furniture.

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CASE STUDY - MARCYWith your help, Marcy has completed six steps of backward design.. Marcy now has a good understanding of the types of activities students will experience in her unit. She is ready to work on the next two steps: Step 7: Make sure course components are integrated. Let’s see how she does.


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DAY FOUR: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETACTIVITY FLOWWork in groups to review your unit activities. Use the space below to design the flow of these activities using Fink’s Castle Top Model.


Modality Face-to-Face, Online

Activity Sequence Pre-Class, In-Class, Post-Class

Required Knowledge

Time On Task




Required Knowledge

Time On Task

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DAY FOUR: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETACTIVITY FLOW (CONTINUED)




Required Knowledge

Time On Task




Required Knowledge

Time On Task




Required Knowledge

Time On Task

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DAY FOUR: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETSTUDENT CHALLENGES

ACTIVITY 1: COMMON STUDENT CHALLENGES In your group, think about some of the student challenges you have encountered in the classroom. In the space below, list these challenges and how you tried to address them.

CHALLENGE SOLUTION

ACTIVITY 2: STUDENT CHALLENGE VIDEOAfter watching the first video, get into groups and answer the following questions:

●● What problems did you identify?

●● What suggestions would you make to address the challenges?

ACTIVITY 3: INSTRUCTOR SOLUTIONS VIDEOAfter watching the second video, get into groups and answer the following questions:

●● How well did you feel the instructor solved the problems?

●● What problems, if any, do you think still remain?

●● What, if anything, would you have done differently to address the problems?

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DAY FOUR: POST-CLASS WORKSHEETCOURSE MAP




Modality

Activity Sequence

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role

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DAY FOUR: POST-CLASS WORKSHEETACTIVITY 2Description

Modality

Activity Sequence

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role


Modality

Activity Sequence

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role

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DAY FOUR: POST-CLASS WORKSHEETACTIVITY 4Description

Modality

Activity Sequence

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role


Modality

Activity Sequence

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role

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DAY FIVE EVALUATION OF COURSE DESIGNUNIT OBJECTIVES●● UO1: Identify ways evaluation can guide iterative

course design.

●● UO2: Use technology to help collect feedback from students.

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Day Five Module

CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Instructor Evaluation Approaches

●● What Does Success Look Like? Activity

●● Break

●● Qualtrics

●● Course Conclusion

POST-CLASS ACTIVITIES●● Work on course map. Due next Friday.

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STEP 9: EVALUATE YOUR DESIGN CASE STUDY: BLEND@UW | DEFINING SUCCESS

As an example of a course evaluation plan, we will be using the Blend@UW course in which you are participating. For the first few years, the Blend@UW course was done as a semester-long course, so the units were done in weekly chunks instead of in daily chunks as you are doing them now. This evaluation plan is for the semester-long course. In setting up our evaluation plan, we reviewed the following elements of our course syllabus:

COURSE OBJECTIVESCO1 - Apply the concept of blended learning to a course.

CO2 - Implement backward design.

CO3 - Articulate course and unit objectives.

CO4 - Identify course structures that support course objectives.

CO5 - Design assessment approaches that provide useful student feedback.

CO6 - Design teaching and learning activities that support course/unit objectives.

CO7 - Design teaching and learning activities that encourage deeper, active, and student-centered learning.

CO8 - Design teaching and learning activities that leverage affordances of each delivery modality.

CO9 - Create an evaluation plan to support iterative design principles.

UNIT OBJECTIVESUNIT 1 • UO1 - Recognize various blended learning models being used on campus.

• UO2 - Identify the stages of backward design.

• UO3 - Recognize the role iterative design plays in course design.

• UO4 - Identify situational factors that affect course design.

UNIT 2 • UO1 - Review UW-Madison Essential Learning Outcomes.

• UO2 - Evaluate the current course structure and objectives.

• UO3 - Identify the structure of strong course and unit objectives

• UO4 - Create strong unit objectives that support course objectives.

UNIT 3 • UO1 - Identify ways students can demonstrate learning.

• UO2 - Identify ways students receive formative feedback.

• UO3 - Identify ways of communicating unit expectations.

• UO4 - Develop activities that support unit objectives.

UNIT 4 • UO1 - Identify activities that support unit objectives and guide learning.

• UO2 - Identify types of technologies to be used to deliver activities.

UNIT 5 • UO1 - Identify activities that support unit objectives and guide learning.

• UO2 - Identify types of technologies to be used to deliver activities.

• UO3 - Identify available support models to assist in course development.

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UNIT 6 • UO1 - Design of activities that are integrated, support and build upon one another, and leverage appropriate modalities of delivery.

• UO2 - Utilize the Course Guide to describe course structure to students.

• UO3 - Review the process for requesting appropriate classroom spaces.

UNIT 7 • UO1 - Examine the roles instructors play in blended courses.

• UO2 - Plan activities that address and integrate the instructor roles.

• UO3 - Identify obstacles and plan ways to address them.

UNIT 8 • UO1 - Identify ways evaluation can guide iterative course design.

• UO2 - Use technology to help collect feedback from students.

GATHERING EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS●● Consider revisiting Classroom Assessment Techniques with a focus on feedback for your activity structure

and design. For example, use note cards for students to write brief muddiest point papers.

●● Ask your students how the course is going for them. Unit or mid-semester surveys can provide additional and more frequent feedback. In creating the surveys, review your unit objectives and develop questions that provide feedback on how effectively the unit prepared students to attain these. This will provide you with some actionable feedback (although students will need to understand that you can’t change everything mid-semester).

●● Use discussions to actively engage students in improving the course design.

●● Evaluate the quality of student work (papers, discussions, other demonstrations of knowledge).

●● Create final course evaluation (both formal and informal).

CASE STUDY: BLEND@UW – EVIDENCE OF SUCCESSAfter reviewing all elements of success, we identified three quantitative and one qualitative approaches to gathering evidence of success.

QUANTITATIVE EVIDENCEWEEKLY SURVEYSWeekly Surveys measures effectiveness of activities and teaching.

●● Unit objectives have been met.

●● Content was relevant to participants’ design process.

●● Participants received useful feedback on their design plans from facilitators and other participants.

EXIT SURVEYThe Exit Survey measures overall satisfaction.

●● Facilitators helped in the learning process.

●● Facilitators communicated effectively.

●● The course map was helpful.

●● Participants felt comfortable talking with others about blended learning.

●● Participants knew what resources were available and where they could get assistance.

●● The course changed the way participants think about teaching.

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ONE YEAR FOLLOW-UP SURVEYThe One Year Follow-up Survey will be used to provide feedback on how useful the program was to participants.

●● Participants felt the course met their expectations.

●● Participants would recommend the course to others.

●● Facilitators were knowledgeable of course content.

●● The program helped participants create a learner-centered course.

●● The program helped participants create an outcome-centered course.

●● The program helped participants create a plan to improve their course.

●● The course changed the way participants thought about teaching.

QUALITATIVE EVIDENCEREVIEW OF COURSE MAPS

Course maps are collected from all participants. The structure and level of detail applied to course maps is determined by participants. The team reviews all course maps and identifies the level of depth, quality, and degree to which concepts are applied to the course.

DEVELOPING AN ITERATIVE DESIGN PLAN On the first day of class, we discussed the value of iterative design. Now that we are at the end of the design phase, we return to the concept. Course design for blended learning is complex. It requires a tight integration of in-class and out-of-class learning activities. Your first blended unit won’t be absolutely perfect; there may be tweaks along the way and some revisions before you teach a unit for a second time. The design of a successful blended course emerges through numerous iterations.

Throughout the Blend@UW course, we gave you opportunities to iterate on your instructional design, from course and unit levels all the way down to creating learning activities for lessons. You accomplished this by moving through multiple drafts. We also encouraged sharing your rough draft designs with others in the class. Hopefully, getting feedback from colleagues helped you fine-tune your instructional design by catching things you didn’t see early in your design process.

Before your class begins, it will be important to think about how you will know whether your instructional design and the activities you developed were effective in supporting your unit objectives, course objectives, and overall goals.

CASE STUDY: BLEND@UW – ITERATIVE DESIGN PLAN The results of the evaluation plan are collated at the end of the semester. The following are evaluation sources.

WEEKLY SURVEYSFor each week, the team looks at several data points.

●● Unit Objectives - How well did participants think we covered each unit objective?●● Relevance - How relevant did participants feel the content was to their course redesign?●● Feedback - Did they get useful feedback from instructors and participants?

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EXIT SURVEYWith the Exit Survey, the team looks for answers to several questions.

●● Facilitators - How well did the facilitators help participants in their learning?

●● Communication - How well did facilitators communicate ideas?

●● Course Map - How helpful was the course map to participants?

●● Comfort Level - How comfortable are participants talking about blended learning?

●● Iterative Design - How well did the course help participants develop a plan to improve their course?

●● Teaching - What impact did the course have on their teaching?

●● Expectations - How well did the course meet the participants’ expectations?

●● Recommendation - How likely are they to recommend this course?

ONE YEAR FOLLOW-UP SURVEYThe exit survey is completed one year after the course is completed. This survey provides broader measurements of the quality of the program. These results help to identify how well we are achieving larger course objectives and outcomes.

The survey seeks to provide answers to several questions.

●● Expectations - How well did the course meet the participants’ expectations?

●● Recommendation - How likely are they to recommend this course?

●● Instructor Knowledge - How knowledgeable are the facilitators?

●● Learner-Centered - How well did the facilitators facilitate an understanding of learner-centered design?

●● Outcome Focus - How well did the course help participants focus on learning outcomes?

●● Iterative Design - How well did the course help participants develop a plan to improve their course?

●● Teaching - What impact did the course have on their teaching?

ITERATIVE DESIGN With the available data, the team has created the following plan to improve the course.

SMALL CHANGES ●● In January, at the end of the fall semester session,

the team meets to review the Weekly Survey and Exit Survey results.

●● Thresholds of success are defined and content is reviewed to determine which weeks require attention.

●● Small ‘tweaks’ are made to the course – mostly focusing on in-class facilitation approaches.

PROGRAMMATIC REVIEW In May, One Year Follow-up Survey data for the past year is reviewed to determine the degree to which high-level programmatic goals are being met. Areas for improvement are directed to the redesign process.

REDESIGN In June, at the end of the spring semester session, the team reviews all available survey data including Fall Weekly Surveys, Fall Exit Surveys, Spring Weekly Surveys, Spring Exit Surveys and the One Year Follow-up Survey. At this time, large-scale redesign processes begin.

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WHAT MAKES A GOOD EVALUATION PLAN DoIT Academic Technology Evaluation Services has developed some principles of evaluation that can be helpful as you plan to evaluate your course. Good evaluation plans:

●● Are not an afterthought;

●● Have a defined and meaningful purpose;

●● Include asking the right people for feedback;

●● Are iterative and support your measurements of success;

●● Include multiple types and sources of feedback;

●● Are flexible and enable responsiveness;

●● Take advantage of existing evaluation tools; and

●● Include a process for acting on feedback.

CASE STUDY - MARCYWith your help, Marcy has completed eight steps of backward design. Marcy now has a good understanding of the types of activities students will experience in her unit. She is ready to begin Step 9: Plan for evaluation of the course design. Let’s see how she does.


BIBLIOGRAPHY• Aycock, A., Garnham, C., & Kaleta, R. (2002). Lessons learned from the hybrid course project. Teaching

Scholars Forum, 8(6), 1-7.

• Angelo, Thomas A., 1954-. Classroom Assessment Techniques : a Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco :Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993.

• Berge, Z.L. (1995). The Role of the Online Instructor/Facilitator. Educational Technology, 35(1), 22-30.

• Fink, L.D. (2013). Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An integrated approach to designing col-lege courses. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

• Graham, C. R. (2005). Blended learning systems: Definition, current trends, and future directions. In C. J. Bonk & C. R. Graham, (Eds.), Handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives, local designs. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.

• Hodges, Linda C., 1951- author. Teaching Undergraduate Science : a Guide to Overcoming Obstacles to Student Learning. Sterling, Virginia :Stylus, 2015.

• Horton, W. (2011). E-Learning by Design (Second Edition). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

• Hubbard, D. (2010). How To Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

• Morrill, J. & Arnold, K. Principles of Evaluation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• Twigg, C. (2003). Improving Learning and Reducing Costs: New Models for Online Learning, EDUCAUSE Review. Sept/Oct 2003, 28-37.

• The Wisconsin Experience and the Essential Learning Outcomes. https://www.learning.wisc.edu/welo2010.pdf

• Wallvoord, B.E., & Anderson, N.J. (2010). Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

• Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

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DAY FIVE: IN-CLASS WORKSHEETCOURSE DESIGN EVALUATIONAfter working in groups in class, take some time to formalize your course design evaluation plans.

MEASUREMENT OF SUCCESSWhat does success look like to you?

What will you look for to let you know your design has been effective?

EVIDENCEWhat kind of evidence can you collect to measure success?

What is the best approach for collecting it?

When is the best time to collect it?

COLLECTION OF EVIDENCEList when and how you will collect the evidence.

ITERATIVE DESIGNHow will you use the information you gather to inform further iterations of your course design?

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FINAL COURSE MAPCOURSE MAP


COURSE UNITS


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FINAL COURSE MAPCOURSE MAP (CONTINUED)

ACTIVITY 1

Description


Activity Sequence Pre-Class, In-Class, Post-

Class

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role

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ACTIVITY 2

Description



Class

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role

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ACTIVITY 3

Description



Class

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role

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ACTIVITY 4

Description



Class

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role

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ACTIVITY 5

Description



Class

Required Knowledge

Time On Task





Pedagogical Role

Social Role

Managerial Role

Technical Role

©2016 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-

NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Blend@UW is presented by DoIT Academic Technology and supports Educational

Innovation by helping faculty design blended courses that foster deeper, more active learning

for students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For more information about

DoIT Academic Technology, go to:

https://at.doit.wisc.edu

Academic TechnologyDIVISION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

Educational InnovationUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON

Learning Support ServicesCOLLEGE OF LETTERS AND SCIENCE


BLEND@UWUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MADISON











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WINTER 2017 BLEND@UW - Blended Learning Toolkit · web design, active learning, blended learning, course design, Google Apps, use of third-party applications, group collaboration,