My OnIOn Method of Instruction

Here's how I see education moving into, if it is not there already. I call it My OnIOn method of instruction for Online, In-person, One-on-One and because these are the three layers:

Layer 1: Online Instructional Component: This component contains the course material such as readings, activities, quizzes, and other items the students can use for learning purposes. This is also where the assignments will be submitted.

Layer 2: In-Person Instructional Component: Students can attend various lectures and activities dealing with the topics of the course. Some of these topics can be repeated throughout the term depending on their foundational importance and student needs.

Layer 3: One-on-One Assistance: Students can meet one on one with a faculty member or designated staff to discuss the material further to gain better understanding of the concepts in the course.

The idea is to have all of the material online with the two in-person components to support the student’s education.

Plagiarism is out there

Every school has a plagiarism problem; especially, when using publisher issued material such as test banks and case studies without changing them before assigning to students. I can see this going unnoticed if the instructor is not aware of the instance. Also, we have some measures of prevention such as MyLabs and we can increase the use of TurnItIn type software. 

 

Students also don't think that copying and pasting is plagiarism and wrong. In an extreme case, a student here turned in a copied page of the textbook with some highlights and notes on the side pointing at the textbook text with Answer to #1, Answer to #2. Technically, they are providing the answers to the questions as instructed (Answer Case Study Questions 1-4), but not in their original voice. That's a difficult concept to communicate sometimes (critical thinking). In another case, I've a student argue that the paper was their own because they bought it.

 

In the end, we need training in discovering this and more assuring support for faculty when they discover this. I'd say that I see or find a case of plagiarism in each course I've taught/teach. Some are coaching moments for the student and some are extreme as the examples above. We need awareness for students as well.

 

This is neat: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-punishable-perils-of-plagiarism-melissa-huseman-d-annunzio

 

Is Hybrid the way to go? YES

Technically, since the advent of internet access and globalization of this method, there is no real absolute need to go to a building for information (or at least there shouldn’t be a need). However, the trick is deciding what aspects of education are better suited for online instruction and what aspects are better suited for live interaction (notice live not in-person, but it can be). The world has advanced technologically where we can do correspondence courses better. We can be in the same presentation without being in the same room.

Here’s an interesting article showing how hybrid helped this math course.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2013/06/government_study_finds_gains_f.html?intc=es

Please don’t teach to the test

I would love to see one person teaching and a different one grading. Better yet, a panel of credentialed faculty grading assignments to ensure the student learning outcomes are met. This way, the same person teaching does not rate their own student’s learning success. Is the better teacher the one with all the A’s in class or the one with well-distributed grades? We can’t tell by just this information. Then, there is after the course. 

How do the students do after your class in another course? That’s more telling than grades. I have students in my quantitative analysis classes that sometimes cannot convert decimals to percentages. I mean, I am stopped in the middle of class when I say there is a 6% probability of xyz (wait, Dr. C. where did the 6% come from?).  So, I start with another problem and work it out and I get the same question. Eventually, I realize that I omitted the automatic step of .06 = 6% because to me that is common knowledge. 

Does that mean that their algebra teacher failed? What about their elementary school teacher? Well, probably not. These may be students that did not do well in these sorts of subjects to begin with. Maybe, they were barely passed with a C, which means they potentially do not understand 30% of the material (or even more).

The bottom line is that there should be a better system to ensure that all of the required objectives are met by the student and not just 70% of them. 

Let’s meet our students at “home”

Let’s meet with our students in their “home” page, that is. If that is where they are hanging out, let’s educate them where they are or at least meet them half way. I am one that allows the use of technology (laptop, mobile devices, etc.) in the college classroom. Every once in a while during the discussion I ask guiding questions that they can search for. In a quantitative analysis class, I may pose a question about seeing the +/- % at the bottom of polls, survey results, articles, etc. Many of them go to their devices to look for that. Or, I refer to an article found at xyz site.

Of course, not all students are engaged in the discussion, but usually, all are engaged at some point or another. I don’t have to call on anyone as they are more than eager to share (and brag) about what they found. I ask them to post their links in a central location in online board. 

Offering more entry points

In an earlier post, I mentioned that we can condense sessions by offering 8-week courses and that this would allow students to enter into school earlier than waiting 15-16 weeks. Well, better than that would be having different terms or calendars. So, for instance, you can have a calendar A and a calendar B for offering classes and even a calendar C, if you want to have more entry points. Students want to go to college now, today, right this second. The age of instant gratification is here and even though academia cannot be in that method for various reasons, we can get students started and in the education journey at different entry points.

I mean, why is it that a student that moves in the middle of their 10th grade year can just pick it right up at the school where they continue the year, but in college we make people gain a W or F for the semester and then wait until the new college at the new place starts and the student has to start from the beginning of the class? I am not suggesting that the student starts class at the new college where s/he left off, but we should be able to assess the student sooner than waiting for the next term to start in 10 weeks. Basically, we should have more than 3 or 4 entry points a year. How about 10 or 20?

Setting pre-requisites based on concepts; not courses

I wish we would revise all of our courses to identify the competencies that are being taught/learned in each course in order to pin-point the pre-requisite for the next course. Therefore, when testing a student that falls into DEVmath for different concepts than those needed for accounting we can determine that s/he can take accounting because they meet the competencies needed for accounting even though they have not mastered all of the ones needed to be above DEVmath. OR just teach them the competencies that they are lacking.

Our students are finding alternate methods of education

Because our schools are so expensive many of our students (or to be students) are fleeing to Canada for their higher education. In many instances, tuition falls under 10k for their degree. We certainly have to figure out a way to be more efficient in order to provide a high quality level education while also saving our students money. It is certainly not an easy task. Cutting spending and maintains quality does not always fit in the same sentence. However, efficient scheduling and responsible spending are just two ways it can be accomplished.

Letting Students Choose their Learning Platform

More than 30% of college students nation-wide take at least one online course (http://sloanconsortium.org/news_press/january2013_new-study-over-67-million-students-learning-online). I’m sure there were several reasons for this (not withstanding that some courses are only offered inline due to declines in enrollment).  Other reasons may fall in line for the purpose of online education such as flexibility, convenience, practicality from the student’s perspective.

What if we were to combine this? The hybrid format comes up where students attend a portion of the class online and the other portion in person.

What if we did it better? We give the student the total option of attendance. The material is delivered in various ways: online and in-person; then, giving the option to the student as to what format they wish to learn from.

It may not be quite just from a learning standpoint to expect a commitment to all-online or all-live for the full quarter or semester without taking under consideration that even within a course material can be best delivered in various ways and people learn things differently depending on the concept. With this in mind, the commitment is then to complete the content of the course and all the required assessments in a certain period of time regardless of where the information came from.

Of course, as higher education, we should create a model example of credible, valid, and reliable sources of information by developing material to be delivered in various ways (and sharing). 

Re-Evals on Pre-reqs

Figure out how we can determine what content is actually needed prior to a course. For instance, those with a pre-req of English (what in the ENGL101 is exactly what you are looking for?). This will then help us create a structure of support for the students and possibly eliminate some of the pre-reqs that are preventing students from moving forward (because they may be able to master that one or two concepts in the pre-req course, but have to take the entire course to prove it).

In the end, there has to be a better way. Or we can do this: http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6406388/salting-the-road-the-hard-way. We have the equipment, so we just have to use it to work for our advantage. :)

"Happiness" at $75k+ & top careers need degree

Research suggests that individuals who earn at least $75,000 a year have greater emotional stability (http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/150671/happiness-is-love-and-75k.aspx).

The top 12 careers, according to Money Magazine, in 2012 require college education with all of them having an average yearly salary of over $100,000 (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/12/18/the-10-best-paying-jobs-for-community-college-grads/)