2010 Focus on FacultyNo Free Lunch: Fostering and Facilitating Active Student Participation in Online Courses

Introduction and Agenda

- CAE Instructional Designers- Alexandria Cesar (cancelled due to illness)- Rachel Hardesty, Assistant Professor Criminology and Criminal Justice- Agenda (Q & A at the end)

Why are you here?

- Take a moment to answer this question.

- Share with a partner

- Record some answers

Preaching to the Choir?

My guess is that you’re NOT here to be convinced that “active student participation” can enhance the learning experience for students.

My guess is that most of you are here because you WANT to replicate many of the practices you use face-to-face in your online courses.

What makes a student “actively participate” anyway?- Some believe “motivation” is the primary

factor.- “Without motivation, learning becomes a

sterile process that is externally dictated and internally resisted.” (1)

-“Research reports that in Web-based environments, 30 to 50 percent of drop out rate is contributed to by less self motivated students.” (2)

Online Course Retention Model

Ways to Motivate Students- If your only motivation for being here

today is “…I didn’t have anything better to do…” it’s going to be hard to get you excited about participating.

-What if you teach a class that is required, but offers no significant motivating factors for the students?

Perhaps, …student centered?- “When designing Web courses,

instructors keep in mind that students learn better when instructors establish and maintain the curiosity of students, help students to see relevance in learning tasks to their needs, encourage students to feel confident they can succeed on a similar task in the future, and stimulate them to continue to pursue similar goals.” (3) (A leads to B leads to C, etc.)

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Student-centered Learning- Be clear with expected outcomes.- “…students must be allowed to have

alternative options over the materials, tasks, and evaluations because more options help students engage more in their tasks.” (4)

- “The learner-centered approach emphasizes nurturing collaboration and social interaction among participants.” (5)

Student-centered, continued- “…active learning is not listening and

then mirroring the correct view of reality, but rather participating in and interacting with the surrounding environment in order to create a personal view of the world.” (6)

What might that look like?

- 1) Students work together to accomplish the same goals;

- 2) within a group, each student plays a different role;

- 3) students are responsible for their learning as well as other team members’ learning;

- 4) while engaging in problem solving activities, students develop collaborative work skills as well as higher order thinking skills. (7)

Other recommendations (8)- Not lecture but act as facilitators as well

as subject matter experts.- Promote interaction and collaboration

using a variety of multimedia and activities to create a rich context for comprehensible input, output, and meaning negotiation.

- Utilize online resources and online experts to build live, authentic, and rich learning atmosphere.

More recommendations- Blend asynchronous and synchronous- Focus students’ attention on important

issues of the course- Be responsive and provide constructive

feedback by modeling an appropriate use of language

- Foster a sense of community among learners

Any Questions or Comments

- Anything immediate before we move on?

References1. Hacker, D., & Niederhauser, D. S. (2000). Promoting deep and durable learning in the online

classroom. In R. E. Weiss, D. S. Knowlton, & B. W. Speck (Eds.), Principles of effective teaching in the online classroom. (pp. 53-64). Jossey-Bass Publishers.

2. Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education. Wadsworth Publishing Company.3. Park, Y. J. (2005). Instructional design theory for entirely web-based courses in higher education: A

case study on ESL pragmatic teaching (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 2005). (UMI No. 3204300).

4. Park, Y. J. (2005). Instructional design theory for entirely web-based courses in higher education: A case study on ESL pragmatic teaching (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 2005). (UMI No. 3204300).

5. American Psychological Association. (1993). Learner centered psychological principles: Guidelines for school redesign and reform. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association and the Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory.

6. Jonassen, D., Davidson, M., Collins, M., Campbell, J., & Bannan Haag, B.(1995). Constructivism and computer-mediated communication in distance education. The American Journal of Distance Education, 9(2), 7-26.

7. Browns, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and tile culture of Learning. Educational Researcher. 18(1), 32-41.

8. Park, Y. J. (2005). Instructional design theory for entirely web-based courses in higher education: A case study on ESL pragmatic teaching (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 2005). (UMI No. 3204300).