Discussion: View Thread

KimBoal@TTU.EDU 12/27/02 12:46PM
Recognizing resource limitations being constantly imposed on professors, I
would be interested in any suggestions from folks about how you teach 400+
19-22 year olds, without much work experience except at entry level jobs,
within the confines of either 3 50 minute sessions a week or 2 one hour 20
minute session twice a week, and that is responsive to criticisms that
Conna raised with respect to the quotes by Filley and Barney.
Regards, Kim Boal

Kim,

I offer a couple of suggestions in the spirit of collegiality. Before I get to directly answering your question, some background:

I teach an 800 student freshman orientation course for the College of Engineering here at the University of Central Florida. While it is not a business course, I think some of the associated approaches and methodologies presented below are generic to large classes. I have also taught a lab as part of our College of Business Cornerstone course which is taught to some 400 juniors (some sophomores) who are transitioning from general education tracks into core tracks of the College of Business. I taught in this course as prep for teaching the College of Engineering course. By the way, the lead instructor for the College of Business course is William Calllarman. In case you want to contact him directly, his email is william.callarman@bus.ucf.edu.

I think it is important to note that the primary purpose of the two courses is orientation to the cultures of each one's respective colleges. While there are educational objectives, the important outcome - in my opinion - are acculturated students who are more ready to responsibly and successfully engage with their courses.

The basic model of the two courses is to present information in two lecture sessions of 300-400 students each and then to break students into smaller "labs" in which a TA (adjunct faculty in the College of Business, seniors in the College of Engineering) develops teacher student relationships and facilitates acculturation. (Acculturation takes place thru the presentation of functional information and active learning) Feedback from the lab instructor is a key dynamic in determining the success of the courses. Unlike the College of Business, the College of Engineering uses two semesters. The Fall semester is comprised of presentations that are hosted by each of the College's department to concentrate on the disciplines taught at UCF. The Spring semester is devoted to providing computer skills and to develop professionalism and ethics.

Some tools and approaches for your consideration:

a. We use WebCT here at UCF. All testing for my class is done via WebCT. Students are encouraged to work collaboratively. Test questions include material presented in lectures and labs but also includes questions that require outside research. They are graded electronically so feedback is immediate.

b. WebCT's bulletin board function is a great tool to handle questions and provide clarification, guidance, advice, i.e. to communicate with students. I devote two TA's to moderate this tool as well as host weekly chat rooms

c. A really wonderful tool that I integrated last semester is eInstruction. eInstruction provides a real time polling capability. What this means is that an instructor can ask questions "on the fly" by typing them into a computer (I use a TA). Students respond with remote controls. Each remote control is uniquely identified. This tool has not only brought attendance up from about 75% by the end of the semester to over 95%, it greatly increased meaningful interaction with students. In particular, instructors can post a "pop quiz" or can directly ask is students understand or need more elaboration on a point. Then, depending upon response, an instructor can assess whether to spend more time on a topic or move on. (Last year, I had students respond to questions at the end of each class and then provide reaction at the next session. This was very cumbersome and time prohibitive.) This tool also allows accurate assessment of student participation and, of course, makes taking attendance a snap. The cost is very reasonable, about $800 for a server and about $150 for each receiver (receivers are needed at a ratio of one per 100 students).

d. We use student teams, too. We have three competitions: Pasta Bridge Competition (mid Fall Semester), Marshmallow Launcher Competition (end of Fall Semester) and the Great Navel Orange Race in which students design and build a craft to race an orange across a large pool located at the center of campus under the window of the President and Provost (end of Spring Semester - a capstone tradition). The intent is to get students used to working in teams and getting them to think in terms of design. It is a great community builder.

e. To evaluate student writing skills, they complete lab reports as well as formal writing requirements that are graded by TA.

f. We use WebCT-based student surveys and focus groups throughout the semester to ensure the course is on track.

g. Both courses use a custom text that includes guide sheets for reflective thought on action learning events.

h. An idea I use in my leadership courses (20 students per section, on average) that I am considering for the large groups is to have them do weekly journal postings on WebCT that would be evaluated by TAs. In my leadership classes, I ask students to list and explain three concepts presented in class thru action or experiential learning; to choose one that is the most meaningful and explain why as well as how they will use the concept in real life, and a suggestion for improving the course. This past semester I used TAs to evaluate the postings in my leadership class. That worked well so I will do this for my Spring semester large sections.

There are, of course, other things we do but the above hits the high points.

I hope this is helpful.

I hope everyone has a great New Year.

Kind wishes.

Ed
Drive On!

Edward Hampton said:

An idea I use in my leadership courses (20 students per section, on average)
that I am considering for the large groups is to have them do weekly journal
postings on WebCT that would be evaluated by TAs. In my leadership classes,
I ask students to list and explain three concepts presented in class thru
action or experiential learning; to choose one that is the most meaningful
and explain why as well as how they will use the concept in real life, and a
suggestion for improving the course. This past semester I used TAs to
evaluate the postings in my leadership class. That worked well so I will do
this for my Spring semester large sections.

Conna Condon replies:

We use Blackboard for Baker and Outlook Express for UIU. I prefer OE
because it allows working offline much easier. However, both are
substantively (once you ignore the GUI) the same as WebCT - or several
others.

Our experience (we just surveyed on this topic to determine if we should try
a new one) of the online testing tools is that they are too easy to cheat
with and/or only provide objective tests - our courses tend to be subjective
content. I'm going to give weekly quizes one more chance in a low undergrad
class this term - but it won't carry much of the value of the course. I'd
be interested in hearing how anyone keeps students from cheating. Even on
the "one attempt" limits, the first student can do a screen print as they go
and the rest of the class will have that heads up to work from.

We have a weekly assignment very similar to what you describe. Some call it
the weekly summary and others call it the lessons learned. In my
instructions the students are required to cite the source (text, lecture,
assignment) and reteach the concept and also explain how understanding this
concept is useful and applicable in their careers (current or planned). The
results of these (all students have to read and reply to all other student's
submittals) are that: 1. I have proof they have at least read the test and
lectures enough to identify and cite a key concept from each. 2. Everyone
gets to see several concepts again (allows for the idea that learning has to
be repetitive to move from short term to long term). 3. They have to
demonstrate understanding of application vs just reiterating information.
4. They get reminded that paraphrasing a source requires proper citation.
5. They are a good way to catch it if a student is way off in their
understanding of a concept.

I do have extra fun with the weekly summary in the introduction to
management course. In week 1 they are assigned an "alter ego" for the
course - a famous person from management theory - and they have to include
that person's perspective on the week's topics. So far my favorite is a
woman who was assigned Lillian Galbraith and her whole summary was written
as a story of having tea - or dinner or some other outing - with Lillian
each week as the two discussed the week's learnings.
The entire class looked forward to the weekly summaries and others began to
get as creative.

I am curious. What is the typical ratio of TAs to students in these large
courses?

Hope this helps

Conna Condon

How awesomely creative you guys are! I admire people who find new ways to accomplish their goals. Even with those large classes, you manage to think of wonderful methods to see if students have learned.
My hat's off to you.
Edryce
Conna Condon <gandolf@cyberverse.com> wrote:Edward Hampton said:

An idea I use in my leadership courses (20 students per section, on average)
that I am considering for the large groups is to have them do weekly journal
postings on WebCT that would be evaluated by TAs. In my leadership classes,
I ask students to list and explain three concepts presented in class thru
action or experiential learning; to choose one that is the most meaningful
and explain why as well as how they will use the concept in real life, and a
suggestion for improving the course. This past semester I used TAs to
evaluate the postings in my leadership class. That worked well so I will do
this for my Spring semester large sections.

Conna Condon replies:

We use Blackboard for Baker and Outlook Express for UIU. I prefer OE
because it allows working offline much easier. However, both are
substantively (once you ignore the GUI) the same as WebCT - or several
others.

Our experience (we just surveyed on this topic to determine if we should try
a new one) of the online testing tools is that they are too easy to cheat
with and/or only provide objective tests - our courses tend to be subjective
content. I'm going to give weekly quizes one more chance in a low undergrad
class this term - but it won't carry much of the value of the course. I'd
be interested in hearing how anyone keeps students from cheating. Even on
the "one attempt" limits, the first student can do a screen print as they go
and the rest of the class will have that heads up to work from.

We have a weekly assignment very similar to what you describe. Some call it
the weekly summary and others call it the lessons learned. In my
instructions the students are required to cite the source (text, lecture,
assignment) and reteach the concept and also explain how understanding this
concept is useful and applicable in their careers (current or planned). The
results of these (all students have to read and reply to all other student's
submittals) are that: 1. I have proof they have at least read the test and
lectures enough to identify and cite a key concept from each. 2. Everyone
gets to see several concepts again (allows for the idea that learning has to
be repetitive to move from short term to long term). 3. They have to
demonstrate understanding of application vs just reiterating information.
4. They get reminded that paraphrasing a source requires proper citation.
5. They are a good way to catch it if a student is way off in their
understanding of a concept.

I do have extra fun with the weekly summary in the introduction to
management course. In week 1 they are assigned an "alter ego" for the
course - a famous person from management theory - and they have to include
that person's perspective on the week's topics. So far my favorite is a
woman who was assigned Lillian Galbraith and her whole summary was written
as a story of having tea - or dinner or some other outing - with Lillian
each week as the two discussed the week's learnings.
The entire class looked forward to the weekly summaries and others began to
get as creative.

I am curious. What is the typical ratio of TAs to students in these large
courses?

Hope this helps

Conna Condon


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