An Educational Community in the Classroom:
Using Layers of Technology and an Integrated Team Approach
to Engage Learners in and out of the Classroom
Tim Pychyl, Flavia Renon & Chris MotzCarleton University
Ontario Library Association SuperconferenceSaturday, February 4, 2006
Toronto, Ontario
Purpose and Process
Describe the evolution of the course to a rich community with “layers of people and technology”
Provide a framework for you to think about the implementation of this approach
Move from our experiences to your own implementation plans
About Us & our context
Course ContextSecond year survey course in Personality Psychology with 120 in-class students and approx 300 students registered to watch a cable broadcast of the lectures
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Student expectations
Student expectationsAnonymous Feedback: I feel more eager to participate in the class
knowing that a ton of effort has been put into the organization of this course even though I am only in the CUTV section. Seeing all the efforts of "team personality" makes me want to put in the effort.
Anonymous Feedback: The concern of your team for the class is
apparent always. Even though I have never attended a class lecture, I find myself saying "We talked about...in class today. Usually I would say "the instructor talked about..." It is very important to me to feel part of the class, and I do.
Where does the Library fit into the whole scheme of things?
VISION OF THE POSSIBLE(library component)
Some IL learning objectives:
Facilitate access to the needed information (the class assignment) effectively and efficiently
Assist students in understanding the value of different information sources (popular vs academic)
The assignment in PSYC2600
Worksheet break & Questions
It’s time to focus on what your vision of the possible might be and your overall learning objectives for the term ahead.
GOALS & PRACTICAL CHALLENGES(library component)
How can I reach as many students as possible?
How can I go beyond a simple search and retrieve exercise (BI vs IL)?
How can I cater to student’s different
learning styles? How can I provide just in time
learning support?
Solutions for the practical
Answer to these questions Provide various contact options Focus on process rather than
skills Use different media to enhance
learning for a variety of learning styles
Make learning support resources available 24/7 (i.e. make yourself virtually available 24/7)
Barriers and Facilitating factorsSome barriers… IL was a goal of the
assignment, but not a focus of the course content (Chris)
Time to learn about the technology beingused in the course (Flavia)
Where will we find the time to plan this and coordinate the assignment? (Tim)
Can I give up control enough to make this a real partnership? (Tim)
Some facilitating factors…
Existing web site & streaming capabilities, & a librarian who could take control of part of this learning (Chris)
The WebCt coursewebpage provided an infrastructure that facilitated access to various learning resources (Flavia)
Worksheet break & Questions
Identify barriers and facilitating factors on your own campus
SOLUTIONS FOR THE PRACTICAL(library component)
Professor/Instructor
LibrarianVideo technicianWeb technicianPrivate-sector
partnerPASS facilitatorPeer MentorsTeaching Assistant
“Layers” of People - a team approach
Technology
Video stream of in class presentation
outlining the Library research process
Video stream tutorial explaining how to do this assignment (simulated
discussion) Power Point tutorials on WebCT E-mails using screen captures (Snag
It)
Layers of Technology (some examples)
The WebCT web site for Introduction to the Study of
Personality
Psyc 2600
Worksheet break & Questions
Technical needs and possible solutions to your own barriers?
The Research Assignment
Our plan for the pedagogical
The goals of this assignment are to:
learn how to research the social-scientific literature related to atopic in personality as presented in the popular press,
link the research discussed in the popular literature to the topics and domains of knowledge in the text,
summarize the background and activities of the researchpsychologist who generated the knowledge claims that werepresented in the popular press, and
locate a published journal article (an academic article) by thisauthor that relates to the topic from the popular press.
1. Finding an article in the popular press
7. Conducting a web-based search for biographical information about the psychology researcher
8. Searching for a journal article
Note: copy of complete research assignment is available in handout
The bigger picture…
• taught students informationliteracy skills
• gave students insight into the academic culture
This assignment:
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Research Assignment on WebCT
Archived video streaming of lecture 3a
Lecture 3a – Library Presentation
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Insert slide screencapture of multiple streaming segments
Emphasis is on PROCESS rather than just on SKILLS
Worksheet break & Questions
Sketch out issues related to your own planning
Understanding the social
Some examples:Mature students: face to face
meetingsDistance students: reliant on
technology
Students had preferences when it cameto selecting learning support options:
Student questionsI would like to set up an appointment with you to discuss getting an article for the assignment. I am not an avid newspaper reader. I do recall you saying something during your presentation of being able to access newspaper articles on-line and actually being able to narrow down the search for those that are relevant to personality. Although I am taking in a lot of new information lately and I could have misunderstood. My computer skills are quite lacking, actually they quite suck...Thank you, Sandra.
Understanding the socialother possible future scenarios
(library component)
Collecting statisticsWebCTMSN messaging
More active participation in discussion groups
Reviewing e-mail, course evaluation sheets,… for student feedback/comments
Getting to know your community of users
Insight into practical
unanticipated problems
Student responseHello Flavia,
I'm a student in psych 2600 and I need some help in regards to the research assignment. I have found an article from pop culture about a psychologist that I think will fit in nicely with this course, but I could not find anything written by him in PsycInfo. Could you help me.Thank you,Ashlee
Student questions…Hello FlaviaI am doing my research assignment for Dr. Pychyl's Psych 2600 class. I have completed all of the steps, and right now I am trying to access the article from a peer reviewed journal.
I have been trying to access the online article from home, but I cant seem to get it to come up over the internet, through the library website.
It seems other articles are available to read online, so I am not sure if I am just doing something wrong! If you could email me back and let me know how to go about finding this article.
Thanks a lot,Victoria
Possible future solutions to the practical(library component)
Podcasting msn messaging WebCT has a “chat room” – you can
prearrange times where you will be available (in order to control the amount of time you spend in a chat room)
Camtasia Studio Screen Recorder or other video streaming software with screen capture and voice over narration capability
Key issues for implementation(library component)
Embrace technology Seek out partnerships/become part of a
learning community Quite often we are already surrounded by
these partners Use IL standards as a framework Constantly seek feedback/refine your
approach
Strive to enhance student participation and engagement in the classroom through principles of good practices supported by the judicious use of technology and a team approach
In Other words…
This course design: Encouraged faculty-student contact Encouraged cooperation among students Encouraged active learning Gave prompt feedback Emphasized time on task Communicated high expectations Respected diverse talents and ways of learning
Seven Principles of Good Practice According to Chickering
and Gamson (1987)
Vision of the possibleA summary
Where can we learn more…(library component)
Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm
National Forum on Information Literacyhttp://www.infolit.org/related_sites/
Enhancing the classroom experience with learning technology teams
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0334.pdf
One last word on…
Advice for those new to video media
Some tips/lessons learned from teaching an ITV course Get advice/sit in on a videoconference Carefully design your Power Point
presentation by factoring in: area for video (bottom right side of
screen) font size/color
Regularly look at the camera to engage home audience
Ensure proper positioning of microphone
Try not to pace/move around too much Give students time to ponder questions Summarize/paraphrase questions posed
by students before answering Pause, smile, relax and enjoy
More lessons learned…
• closely evaluate/revisit your teaching style
• share with colleagues samples ofyour teaching technique (the good/the bad/the ugly)
Use your video appearance to: