Category Archives: Instructional Design

Rethinking Office Hours

Equity and Inclusion, Instructional Design, Research, STEM, TA/Postdocs, Uncategorized, ,

By Devon Coutts, Ph. D. Candidate
Student Instructional Assistant
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT)
devon.coutts@stonybrook.edu

When I was a teaching assistant, students often came to meet with me. Sometimes, especially before exams, there were so many that I had to offer additional sessions and bring in extra chairs to accommodate them all. But when I became an instructor, that changed. Suddenly, students rarely came in. And when they did, the meetings would be brief, lasting only the time it took for me to answer a question or two. I began to wonder: what happened? Why did my students stop coming? It could have been because they felt intimidated by my new role as an instructor, or because my office hours conflicted with their other classes. Or, perhaps my students did not believe that attending office hours would benefit them? 

Two women sit and face each other in an office.
Are students coming to your office hours?

Mine is not an isolated experience. Overall, faculty report that students don’t come to office hours. However, research shows that both students and instructors benefit greatly from interactions outside of the classroom. Building positive relationships with instructors personalizes the learning experience, and encourages students to succeed in all of their courses. Conversations during office hours are less structured and more spontaneous than lectures, and can generate new research opportunities and insights into the course material on both sides of the discussion. At the same time, the instructor is gaining experience in the art of teaching–and more importantly how to revise their teaching practice to connect with learners.

There are several reasons why students don’t come to office hours. Griffin et al. (2014), noted that the most important determining factors include things like perceived convenience of the office hours, the course level, or whether the course is required or an elective. In a recent National Public Radio story (Nadworny, 2019) students described office hours as “‘intimidating’ or ‘terrifying,’ ” because attending office hours means “talking to the smartest, most powerful person you know.” Because of such anxieties or the perceived inconvenience of attending, some students prefer to email, to ask questions during class, or to meet with a TA instead. In a research article titled, “Office hours are kind of weird:” Reclaiming a resource to foster student-faculty interaction, the authors studied survey responses from 625 undergraduate students and found that oftentimes students do not really understand what office hours are for or why attending could benefit them Smith et al. (2017).

So, how can instructors take a more active role in encouraging students to seek meetings outside of class? One option is to require students to come to office hours as part of their grade. An instructor who takes this approach assigns 5% of the final grade and requires students to complete two one hour office visits with him, the TA, or one each. In an editorial for Inside Higher Ed, the instructor explained his approach and reported that many of his students said they found it very or extremely useful (Nowak, 2021). Another option is to reframe office hours as tutoring sessions or review (Joyce, 2017). “Tutoring” has a clearer purpose than the traditional, open-ended “office hours,” and its benefit for students needs no explanation. Alternatively, holding office hours in public spaces on campus, in libraries, cafes, or even in the hall outside of class, can help students feel more comfortable approaching professors for help. Offering virtual sessions can also be a good way to make office hours more accessible to students whose schedules prevent them from attending in person. 

As instructors, if we want students to take advantage of office hours, then we ought to make it clearer to them why office hours are valuable. However, raising student interest in attending office hours is only one part of it: instructors also need to make an effort to anticipate student anxieties and be available to meet with students. 

The approaches mentioned here offer a few ideas that instructors can think about for restructuring their office hours to make them more accessible. In my next few posts, I’ll explore the barriers preventing students from attending office hours, and discuss ideas for instructors looking to restructure their office hours in greater detail.

How do you approach office hours? If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.  Join us for a CELT Inclusive Teaching Discussion Panel on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. ET.

Register:  https://stonybrook.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqceGtqzwqGN06H2GkNgQA2nS3EL5FVdFm

Questions: Carol Hernandez, Ed.D. carol.hernandez@stonybrook.edu

References

Griffin, W., Cohen, S. D., Berndtson, R., Burson, K. M., Camper, K. M., Chen, Y., & Smith, M. A. (2014). Starting the conversation: An exploratory study of factors that influence student office hour use. College Teaching, 62(3), 94-99.

Joyce, A. (2017). Framing office hours as tutoring. College Teaching, 65(2), 92-93.

Nadworny, E. (2019). College students: How to make office hours less scary. National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/10/05/678815966/college-students-how-to-make-office-hours-less-scary

Nowak, Z. (2021). Why I require office hours visits. Opinion: Teaching and Learning, Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2021/12/15/benefits-requiring-students-come-office-hours-opinion#.YyoRGLBq4Q0.link

Smith, M., Chen, Y., Berndtson, R., Burson, K. M., & Griffin, W. (2017). “Office Hours Are Kind of Weird”: Reclaiming a Resource to Foster Student-Faculty Interaction. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 12, 14-29.

Learning Goals, Objectives, or Outcomes?

Assessment, Instructional Design, Learning Outcomes, Measurable learning

By Kristin Hall, Ph. D.
Instructional Designer
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT)
kristin.hall@stonybrook.edu

Ever wonder what the difference is between learning goals, learning outcomes and learning objectives? These terms are often used interchangeably but at other times they are referencing different concepts. This can cause a bit of confusion. So what exactly are these terms and how do you tell the difference? More importantly, what do you need to know as an instructor when you are planning your course design?

Elizabeth Barkley and Claire Howell Major decipher these three concepts in Learning Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty (2016).  According to Barkley and Major: 

  • Learning Goals– include what you intend for students to learn. This can be seen as a macro view of what you want students to achieve after instruction. For example: the student will learn to drive a car.
  • Learning Objectives– include identifying the steps students need to reach the learning goal. These are specific steps we expect students will achieve as they work toward  the learning goal. For example: the driving student will be able to identify common traffic signs.
  • Learning Outcomes– includes the action taken to determine if and how students achieved the learning goal. In other words, outcomes are what students actually achieved after instruction and can be determined based on evidence (assessment) of their learning. An example might be: during a road test, the driving student will demonstrate that they can safely and accurately perform parallel parking. 

If you search for these terms, you will come across different definitions. Some educational accrediting agencies will use very specific terms. It can be perplexing but our best advice is don’t get caught up in semantics. Until there is a better consensus among educators, you can loosely call of these statements learning outcomes or learning objectives. They generally point to the same thing, which is a measurable learning activity. In other words, what do you plan to teach and how will you and your student know if the learning took place?

Perhaps if you want to put a finer point on this, the best learning outcomes should be student-focused and contain a concrete learning verb. That is a critical difference when planning instruction. So instead of only focusing on what you will teach, it is perhaps more important to plan for what students will learn and how you (and they) will show that it has been learned and to what degree. This is key no matter if you are planning an in-person, online, or hybrid course. The SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR) Standard #9 addresses this explicitly: “Course objectives/outcomes are clearly defined, measurable, and aligned to learning activities and assessments.”

Again, for the purposes of effective instruction, you want to make sure these statements are specific and measurable. Why? For both the learner and the instructor, there must be some concrete guidelines that steer the teaching/learning experience and show in a transparent way whether learning has been achieved–or not. Here are a few best practices when writing learning outcomes/objectives for your courses.

Best Practices in Writing Learning Outcomes/Objectives

  1. Use one specific and measurable verb. Avoid using more than one verb as students may be able to achieve one part of the outcome/objective but not the other.  
  2. Avoid using the following word/phrases as these are often open to interpretation and not measurable: “understand, know, demonstrate an understanding, learn, be familiar with, be aware of, appreciate, have knowledge of . . .” Instead ask yourself these questions: How will I be able to determine if students know or understand?  What will they need to do?  These questions will often help you identify the specific and measurable verb.
  3. Well-written learning outcomes/objectives use student-centered specific, clear and concise language. Avoid using ambiguous words or phrases. Instead put the focus of the action the student can show or perform, not what the instructor can show or perform.
  4. Learning outcomes/objectives should be designed to be achieved within the specific time frame of the semester or (time frame of instruction). In this way, there is a deadline or endpoint both you and the student must work toward. This aspect can help you determine what content must be included in your curriculum so that students can reach that goal. Ask yourself: is it nice to know or need to know?
  5. Avoid references to course activities and specific assessments. For example, it would not be appropriate to state, “Students will be able to achieve a passing grade on the midterm exam.”  This is not a learning outcome/objective for the course.

Additional Resources:

CELT: Articulating Student Learning Outcomes and Bloom’s Taxonomy
SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric (OSCQR) Standard #9: Course objectives/outcomes are clearly defined, measurable, and aligned to learning activities and assessments.

If you would like assistance in writing or revising your learning outcomes/objectives for your courses, contact CELT at celt@stonybrook.edu to schedule a consultation with an instructional designer. Do you have questions or comments? Please post them below or on our Twitter handle: @CELT_SBU.

Reference:
Barkley, E. F., & Major, C. H. (2016). Learning assessment techniques: A handbook for college faculty. John Wiley & Sons.

 

Inclusive Teaching: From Exposure to Commitment

Equity and Inclusion, Instructional Design, Online Learning, Research, STEM, TA/Postdocs

By Hyunjin Jinna Kim Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction
Postdoctoral Associate
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT)
hyunjin.kim.4@stonybrook.edu

Practicing inclusive teaching, especially in the STEM fields, is recognized as a challenge.  A 2017 study by Oriana Aragón and colleagues found that an instructor’s values provide a clue as to their ability to implement pedagogies that embrace equity.

In the article Colorblind and multicultural ideologies are associated with faculty adoption of inclusive teaching practices, which ran in the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, researchers investigated the relationship between faculty beliefs and the adoption of inclusive teaching practices in STEM. Results demonstrated higher adoption of inclusive teaching practices from those who endorsed multicultural ideology compared to the endorsement of a colorblind ideology. 

Using survey data from 628 attendees of the National Academies Summer Institutes on Undergraduate Science Education, the study measured faculty ideologies and the influence on inclusive teaching adoption processes. In terms of ideologies, the study measured colorblind and multicultural ideologies as opposing viewpoints. The colorblind ideology refers to beliefs that emphasize sameness and equal treatment with no attention to students’ differences. The multicultural ideology, on the other hand, is a set of beliefs that embraces differences and seeks to support underrepresented or marginalized students. The measurement of adopting equitable teaching practices included instructor actions such as adopting diverse teaching methods, reducing implicit biases, or providing classroom content with contributors from diverse backgrounds.  

The Summer Institute curriculum was designed based on an EPIC model: Expose, persuade, identify, and commit. In the study, educators were exposed to inclusive teaching practices; then persuaded by personal values, a sense of duty to the organization, and the negative consequences of not implementing them. Next, educators identified with the inclusive teaching practices by seeing the compatibility of the practices with their teaching approaches. Commitment is the final step where educators implemented new teaching practices. This  was measured by asking participants to indicate the inclusive teaching practices they applied to their teaching as a result of the Summer Institute.

The data collection started in October 2014, when a request to respond to a survey was distributed to all who attended the National Academies Summer Institutes between 2004-2014. The Summer Institute was sponsored by the National Academies and funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and ran annually  from 2004 to 2015. Typically, the program is a 4-day intensive training where participants focus on active learning, assessment, and inclusive teaching practices. Results of the study showed a higher rate of changes in the implementation of inclusive teaching practices after attending the Summer Institute. 

The results are important to educators as they suggest that critical self-awareness is key for faculty who seek to eliminate exclusion of traditionally underrepresented students in STEM courses. Despite the self-report biases and the well-intended faculty who committed their time to attend the Summer Institute, it is critical to recognize that faculty ideologies and orientations could potentially affect efforts in implementing inclusive practices. The good news is that faculty can play an active role in reviewing their own biases regarding their teaching ideologies and in revising their teaching practice.

What are your thoughts on this study? On making your own teaching practice more inclusive? Leave a comment below.

Reference

Aragón, O. R., Dovidio, J. F., & Graham, M. J. (2017). Colorblind and multicultural ideologies are associated with faculty adoption of inclusive teaching practices. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 10(3), 201-215. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000026

Congratulations to Jennifer Carter!

Instructional Design,

Carol Hernandez Carol Hernandez, Senior Instructional Designer

Jennifer CarterJennifer Carter, Ph.D., a lecturer teaching in the Department of Philosophy and the College of Business, is one of six SBU adjunct faculty members selected for the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching given by the State University of New York (SUNY). The awards are conferred to acknowledge and provide system-wide recognition for superior professional achievement and to encourage the ongoing pursuit of continuous academic excellence. The Excellence in Adjunct Teaching is a new award category, which recognizes consistently superior teaching at the graduate, undergraduate or professional level.

During the past year, Carter has worked closely with the instructional design team in the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) to redesign and build a completely asynchronous online course, PHI 108: Logical and Critical Reasoning. The philosophy course has the largest enrollment for any course in that department, with about 550 students per semester. With the help of CELT’s instructional designers, Carter transformed the course from a face-to-face model to a completely online and asynchronous model where students move through as a cohort, but with weekly online assignments where they engage with each other, the instructor, and the course content. Carter has taught the redesigned course twice so far and student feedback is positive, she said. Students have commented on the high level of interactivity and real-time engagement with the instructor and their peers, all despite connecting in a virtual classroom. While the course tends to be taken mostly by freshmen and sophomores, it can be useful for upperclassmen as well because it supports critical thinking and lifelong learning. The course addresses the Stony Brook Curriculum as both an ESI: Evaluate and Synthesize Researched Information, and an HUM: Address Problems Using Critical Analysis and the Methods of the Humanities.

Working with CELT, she said, was a high point in her teaching journey. “There were times during the pandemic when I was discouraged and working with CELT was really great.”

Carter, who is originally from California, earned both her doctorate and master’s degrees at Stony Brook University. She has been teaching for about a decade. Carter typically has 2-4 undergraduate teaching assistants in the redesigned philosophy course, which is critical for a course that provides a high level of interaction for students. A best practice for online course design and facilitation is to create a sense of “presence” by establishing community and interdependence. However, that also requires real-time human facilitation by the instructor and teaching assistants. In addition to philosophy courses, Carter also teaches BUS 447: Business Ethics, first-year seminars, and a spring special topics course for undergraduates. 

As an educator, Carter is passionate about developing and mentoring both undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants. Each year, Carter mentors 4 to 6 Ph.D. Philosophy students and 3 to 8 undergraduate teaching assistants. With the doctoral students, she instructs them on course development, lecturing, grading, and “how to arrange the course and information so that it is digestible for students and keeps their interest,” she said. For undergraduates, Carter provides overall mentoring and leadership guidance, while also facilitating reading groups, guiding the teaching assistants, advising students on graduate school applications, and directing the honors theses.

Carter was nominated for the Chancellor’s Award by her department colleagues. “It made me feel really special,” she said. “I think there were a few important factors that made me stand out. Innovation was one element. I think developing the new course and the new curricula – especially those that address the future of SBU students. 

“The course that I developed with CELT addresses not just the needs of students on campus today but also the needs of the students coming to the campus in the future. In the sense that it accommodates the widest variety of students: students with disabilities, students in different disciplines, and with different backgrounds . . .  but it’s still rigorous and it still piques students’ interest.”

Carter said she is proud of the award because it highlights her dedication to teaching. She says she has put a lot of effort into developing future educators from a variety of disciplines: medicine, economics, finance, psychology, sociology. “It is absolutely what I thrive on and it really gives me a lot of satisfaction to help others to have the skills to create their own learning as a way of life.”

In addition to serving the SBU community as an educator and mentor, Carter was elected in 2021 to serve as the secretary for the Stony Brook Center Campus Chapter of the United University Professions (UUP). The UUP represents academic faculty, students affairs personnel, librarians and others who work on campus. The chapter Carter is involved in has more than 2,300 members.

For Carter, teaching and learning is not just her profession, but a way of life. Carter is also a parent, and delivered four of her children at Stony Brook University Hospital. Imagine her surprise when the pediatric resident came in to examine one of her newborns and it turned out to be one of her former SBU students. “We were just so happy. We had talked a lot during the class, so we fell right back into our usual pattern. It was really sweet.”

The six adjunct professors at Stony Brook University who won the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching given by the State University of New York (SUNY) are:

  • Jennifer Lyons Carter, Department of Philosophy
  • Michele Giua, Department of European Languages
  • Leslie Marino, Department of European Languages
  • Patricia Maurides, Department of Art
  • Jessica Mitchell, School of Social Welfare
  • Joanne Souza, Department of Biology

 

Online Teaching Certificate (OTC) Course: Summer 2022

Instructional Design, Online Learning, Updates,

Happy Summer! Join the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) for one of our Online Teaching Certificate (OTC) multi-week courses:

Please register in advance.

springtime with flowers
Larisa Koshkina, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Overcoming Challenges Associated With Group Work

Instructional Design,

Kimberly Bell Kimberly Bell, Teaching Assistant Development Specialist

Ok, you are taking a stab at this whole group work thing. You planned a multi-week activity that you think your students will find relevant and (not too) challenging. Then, you took Jennifer’s awesome advice, created a group contract with roles, and planned for group reflection after the activity. Your students diligently completed their contracts, chose their roles, and agreed to work cooperatively and respectfully. The first day seemed to go well, the groups worked efficiently, members were friendly with each other, they utilized their roles. So you thought, “hey, this isn’t so bad!”. The second day…well, not so much. Don’t lose hope, your careful planning did not go to waste. Group dynamics, as we know, are complicated. Here is some advice on what you can do to help your students work more effectively together when things don’t go according to plan. 

Backtrack

Group Behaviors 

As part of your contract creation process, you can have your students reflect on constructive and destructive group behaviors. You can call them “not-so-constructive,” or similar, as to not demoralize your students. This short reflection can make students more self-aware of their group behaviors, accountable for them, and prevent conflict.

Facilitation: Provide groups with the following list. Give them time to read and reflect, then have them choose and write down one of each type that they can relate to and share with their group. Reassure them that people do both and ask them to reflect honestly about how they have worked in groups in the past or share a story about when you worked in a group. 

Constructive Behaviors

  • Cooperating – Is interested in the views and perspectives of other group members and is willing to adapt for the good of the group.
  • Clarifying – Makes issues clear for the group by listening, summarizing and focusing discussions.
  • Inspiring – Enlivens the group, encourages participation and progress.
  • Harmonizing – Encourages group cohesion and collaboration.
  • Risk taking – Is willing to risk possible personal loss or embarrassment for the group or project success.
  • Process Checking – Questions the group on process issues such as agenda, time frames, discussions topics, decision methods, use of information, etc.

 Not-So-Constructive Behaviors 

  • Dominating – Takes much of meeting time expressing self-views and opinions. Tries to take control by use of power, time, etc.
  • Rushing – Encourages the group to move on before the task is complete. Gets “tired” of listening to others and working as a group.
  • Withdrawing – Removes self from discussions or decision-making. Refuses to participate.
  • Discounting – Disregards or minimizes group or individual ideas or suggestions. Severe discounting behavior includes insults, which are often in the form of jokes.
  • Digressing – Rambles, tells stories, and takes the group away from its primary purpose.
  • Blocking – Impedes group progress by obstructing all ideas and suggestions. “That will never work because…”

Adapted from Brunt (1993). Facilitation Skills for Quality Improvement. Quality Enhancement Strategies. 1008 Fish Hatchery Road. Madison WI 53715

Group Roles

You may consider switching up the group roles. Perhaps a student chose their role in an uninformed manner, and it is not aligned with their strengths. A more suitable role can help students be motivated to work with their group and feel they can contribute meaningfully. If you will utilize groups in each class for the entire semester, consider changing them completely once or twice, especially if you are receiving complaints or notice groups aren’t working well. Sometimes, you may have to switch members before you planned, in order to manage conflict. 

Incorporate peer-instruction

Use the think-pair-share strategy within groups to spark cooperative learning and discussion. Groups can then be combined to expand on this and build up to a whole class discussion.

Round 1: Think Individually; Round 2: Pair Up; Round 3: Share with the class

https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/setting-up-and-facilitating-group-work-using-cooperative-learning-groups-effectively/

Assess & Reflect 

As part of your assessment plan for the group work and student contributions, consider the following:

Is each member contributing?

Did your groups use their roles during the second class? Discord can form in groups when work is not evenly divided. Since students were motivated for the new project the first day, they may have all contributed equally. Then, on the second day their typical group behaviors were more apparent. In addition to the suggestion above about group behaviors, perhaps you can incorporate a way to make them use their roles more explicitly, and/or have them submit an individual work component. This will hold each person accountable and may alleviate some of the tension. 

Will your students tell you there are problems?

It may seem a group is working well together, but that may not be the case. Students can be struggling with their group and not inform you. Students are often hesitant to provide honest feedback, even if explicitly asked for it because they think it may affect their grade, alter your perception of them, or that somehow their group members will find out what they said. If you are using a survey or another tool to collect feedback from students to their group, be sure to make it clear that you are truly asking for their honest feedback because you want them to work well together and succeed. 

Provide additional resources to help your students

You students may need time management tips, more explicit instructions, follow-up information, or direct help managing group conflict, despite your best efforts. Are there other resources you can give them to help? Consider sharing the following guide with your students when starting the group work or project:

References: 

Guide: Group work: Using cooperative learning groups effectively by Cynthia J. Brame and Rachel Biel https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/setting-up-and-facilitating-group-work-using-cooperative-learning-groups-effectively/

Group Projects: A Conflict Resolution Guide for Students by Heidi Burgess, Co-Director, university of Colorado Conflict Research Consortium https://www.beyondintractability.org/educationtraining/group-projects

Article: How to Survive Virtual Groupwork https://www.elearners.com/education-resources/online-learning/how-to-survive-virtual-group-work/

Essay: Facilitating Group Discussions: Understanding Group Development and Dynamics

Kathy Takayama, Brown University

https://podnetwork.org/content/uploads/V21-N1-Takayama.pdf

 

Group Work

Instructional Design,

Jennifer Jaiswal  Jennifer Jaiswal, Instructional Designer & Sr Instructional Technologist 

Am I the only one who has heard the collective groan when the class group work project is announced? Am I the only one who has had a terrible group work project, where I’ve been stuck writing the report or presentation on my own? Most students and faculty have had poor group work experiences. What are the reasons for having them in our courses?

Team work, holding hands
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

As we prepare our students for the workforce, the National Association of Colleges and Employers have teamwork/collaboration as one of the top career competencies that employers are looking for college graduates to have. Working as a team also allows students to develop their competencies in: professionalism/work ethic, oral/written communications, leadership and more. These career competencies can all be developed through group work projects (NACE, 2019).

The group work assignments that we complete in our classes serve as a testing ground for how we should participate in groups in our professional lives after graduation. Assigning a group project with no guidelines or restrictions is not realistic and sets up groups for challenges. But what makes a good group project? 

Guidelines:

Don’t assign a group project without a team plan. Planning ahead can help to make sure that everyone in the group has an idea of what the group will be completing and what their own individual responsibilities are. Using a Group Contract can help students think through the key features of a functioning team and what they each will be responsible for in the project. 

Contracts should include:

  • Names and contact information: This helps to set up accountability and the ability to get in contact with each other. 
  • Team roles and responsibilities: Each team member should take responsibility for part of the project and list its responsibilities in the contract. Team members may take on multiple roles as part of their project, but listing out what their responsibilities are helps to balance the workload upfront and create the timeline. Some examples are: 
    • Leader – sets the agenda, sends reminders, and keeps team members accountable.
    • Researcher – gathers raw material for the group and cites sources; can be more than one in a team
    • Writer/Producer – connects the research together to tell the story
    • Editor – reviews the final draft for errors, references, and makes sure that it is ready to be sent to instructor or ready for presentation 
    • More roles and their descriptions can be found on the CSU: San Marcos page
  • Best Dates and Times to Meet:
    • Asking this at the beginning helps to avoid the conflict later. 
    • This helps to set up accountability and a schedule for touching base over the course of the project. 
    • You can also arrange your groups based on what times they are most available to help the group have a natural meeting time.
  • Timeline:
    • What are the tasks that need to be completed by each member of the group?
    • What is a reasonable time by which that task should be completed?
    • The Writer/Producer should work with the Researchers to set a deadline that gives them time to produce the project
    • The Editor should set the final timeline to make sure they have enough time to review and complete the project before the deadline.
  • Signatures:
    • All members should sign to show they agree with the written plan and turn a copy into the faculty member.

Getting Started:

If you are looking for a sample to get started see our Group Contract Template. This has suggestions for information that can go into your contract. You can make a copy and edit it to best meet your needs.

The description of your assignment should be clear and understandable with the knowledge that your students will have of the course and its content. It should be broken down into manageable tasks that students will be able to complete in the time allotted. Offering examples of previous projects that did well can also help students make sure they are not planning the scope of the project to be too big.

Creating a model where the group project can be evaluated on an individual basis can also help the group to function better. This shows that you are interested in all members completing tasks and working on the project together, and can help to prevent group members from becoming estranged, not participating or letting the other members carry all the weight of the project. For example, you can have a joint presentation but also have a reflection paper where students cover what they learned in the process of the project that can be evaluated for an individual grade. For more information and methods on assessing groups please see this article by the Eberly Center from Carnegie Mellon. 

Reflection 

Last but not least, ask your students to reflect on their process, the project, their participation, and other member’s participation. This gives the students the opportunity to alert you to any challenges in the group and if members were not participating equally. You can have reflections at multiple points throughout the project, not just at the end. Some sample questions you can ask are:

  • How is the team working as a whole? Are there challenges? What are they? How are they being resolved?
  • What have you been working on since the beginning of the project?
  • How have your peers been participating in the project?
  • What do you think of your own contributions to the project?

Thinking out the process of the group project and what the expectations are can help to make a better experience as students learn how to design and plan a project while learning how to manage and work with a team. For help with your group project please contact CELT.

 

Reference

NACE Staff. (2019, March 29). The four career competencies employers value most. National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/the-four-career-competencies-employers-value-most/

Engagement in the Educational Interface

Instructional Design,

Kristin Hall  Kristin Hall, Instructional Designer

You often may hear the term engagement in an educational setting, but what do we mean by engagement? According to a popular framework, Fredricks et al, (2004) describes engagement as a multifaceted, mega construct including behavioral, emotional and cognitive components. It is considered to be malleable and responsive to the environment which means instructors can influence a student’s engagement in their course. 

Overall, students who are engaged are more likely to be successful in their courses (Kahu, 2018) as there is research to support that engagement has a positive relationship with academic achievement (Fredricks et al., 2004, Kahu & Nelson, 2018). A recent framework developed by Kahu and Nelson (2018) seeks to expand upon the concept of engagement and describe the complex relationship between institutional factors and students’ backgrounds that influence students’ engagement. There are many factors involved including the University culture, policies, teaching as well as student motivation, skills, background and support. (See Kahu & Nelson (2018) for a more in depth review). 

Kahu and Nelson (2018) found through their research four factors that strongly influence student engagement including self-efficacy, emotions, belonging and well-being. While these factors are not a definitive list, they are critical factors to consider. Here are some strategies you can use in your courses to help students increase their engagement based on these four factors.

  • Self-efficacy: This is the student’s belief in their abilities. If a student believes they can be successful, they are more likely to be motivated, persistent, and use appropriate self-regulation skills. To build students’ self-efficacy, instructors can: 
    • build achievable assignments and assessments early on in their course to help build confidence 
    • break down large assignments into smaller parts to make them more manageable
    • provide a well-organized syllabus and course with clear expectations
  • Emotions: Learning is an emotional experience and recent research is paying more attention to academic emotions. Students can be experiencing a wide variety of emotions from enthusiasm and enjoyment to frustration, anxiety, and boredom. 
    • To build interest and enthusiasm instructors can: 
      • relate the subject matter to real-world experiences
      • incorporate varied and frequent assessments and activities
      • allow the opportunity for choice when appropriate (but not too much choice!) 
      • incorporate an appropriate level of challenge
    • To mitigate frustration, anxiety, and boredom instructors can: 
      • present clear and direct instructions for assignments and assessments
      • avoid questions that are designed to intentionally “trick” students
      • break down long videos into 8-10 minute segments
      • provide a well organized syllabus and course with clear expectations
  • Belonging: Belonging is described as how connected a student feels to their educational environment or the degree of fit they perceive (Kahu & Nelson, 2018). To increase a sense of belonging, instructors can:
    • practice inclusive teaching by incorporating diverse perspectives, creating an inclusive classroom climate, and examining your own implicit biases
    • use welcoming language within your syllabus and classroom
    • show you care about each students’ success
    • incorporate Universal Design principles in your courses
  • Well-being: Well-being is influenced by a students’ stress level. Stress can come from both school and personal factors and all can affect engagement. High stress levels are linked to a decrease in motivation and lower levels of enjoyment (Kahu & Nelson, 2018). All of the strategies listed above can mitigate stress levels and increase a student’s sense of well-being and in the end, can increase a student’s engagement. In addition, instructors are encouraged to:
  • include resources to support services on campus including Counseling and Psychological Services, Dean of Students, Academic Advising and Academic Tutoring

If you are interested in learning more about incorporating any of these strategies into your courses, feel free to email CELT. 

References:

Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074001059

Kahu, E., & Nelson, K. (2018). Student engagement in the educational interface: Understanding the mechanisms of student success. Higher Education Research & Development, 37(1), 58–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1344197

 

Are Your Students Career Ready?

Instructional Design, Updates
Are your students career ready? Would you like to help them acquire real world experience as part of your course?  Learn how to incorporate industry projects and career success modules into your existing curriculum. Join Marianna Savoca & Urszula Zalewski in the Faculty Commons (Melville Library E 1332) or over Zoom  to learn more.  RSVP here!

INCORPORATING INDUSTRY PROJECTS INTO YOUR COURSE

You are likely familiar with “project based learning,” however, you may be curious about how to infuse real-world industry projects into your curriculum. Moreover, many of our students without transportation would relish the opportunity to work on an industry problem in their classroom.

Join CELT & the Career Center in the Faculty Commons for an informal conversation about connecting faculty to industry projects.
TUES, OCT 26 2:00pm – 3:00pm [Faculty Commons – Melville Library E 1332]
MON, NOV 15 11:00am – 12:00pm [Faculty Commons – Melville Library E 1332]
TUE, NOV 9 – 10:00am – 10:30am [ZOOM Virtual Session]

INCORPORATING CAREER SUCCESS MODULES INTO YOUR COURSE
 
Career Success Modules help students build confidence and knowledge about career interests and the job market, as well as connect classroom learning to industry needs. The Career Center has created a family of career success modules covering a variety of career readiness topics. Each module takes 20-40 minutes to complete.
 
Join us @ the Faculty Commons to learn more and/or have a personalized consultation.  
WED, OCT 27  2:00pm – 3:00pm [Faculty Commons – Melville Library E 1332]
WED, NOV 17 1:00pm – 2:00pm [Faculty Commons – Melville Library E 1332]
FRI, OCT 29  12:00pm – 12:30:00pm  [ZOOM Virtual Session]
TUE, NOV 9   3:00pm – 3:30pm   [ZOOM Virtual Session]

College Teaching Seminars

Equity and Inclusion, Instructional Design, TA/Postdocs, ,

Attention all Teaching Assistants and Postdocs! The Center for Inclusive Education (CIE) and the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT) is excited to announce the Fall 2021 College Teaching Seminars!

Register below for the Fall 2021 College Teaching Seminars! You can attend one, some, or all of the seminars. All seminars will be held on Wednesdays from 3:30pm – 5pm on Zoom. Please register for each session you plan to attend. The series will continue in the Spring. 

Seminar Topics and Descriptions:

10/6: Building a Foundation for a Teaching Philosophy
Facilitator: Kimberly Bell, PhD – TA Development Specialist, CELT

  • In this session, you will reflect on how you teach or how you would like to teach with the goal of building a solid foundation for your Teaching Philosophy. A full Statement of Teaching Philosophy will be a required component of your job applications and a condensed version is often used as part of faculty profiles on department websites.

10/20: Developing Inclusive Pedagogy
Facilitator: Kimberly Bell, PhD – TA Development Specialist, CELT

  • In this session we will reflect on the connections between social identity, privilege, and equity and how these can influence both you and your students. By becoming aware of our own biases and the identities that may be present in our students, we make great leaps in being able to prevent negative influences, and perhaps more importantly develop strategies for open and honest communication to help us when we inevitably make mistakes.

11/3: Overview of the Scientific Teaching Framework
Facilitator: Marvin O’Neal, PhD – Director of Introductory Biology Labs

  • Scientific Teaching is a framework of teaching designed specifically for teaching science in higher education. Drawing on large domains of effective pedagogy practices including Diversity, Active Learning, and Assessment we can reframe how we think of science courses and begin to develop strategies to bring these foundations of effective learning into our teaching.

11/17: The Flipped Classroom
Facilitators: Rose Tirotta, EdD – Director, CELT and Bill Collins, PhD – Associate Professor, Neurobiology

  • Want to know more about LIVER activities? Learn how the hybrid course format is implemented in a large Biology lecture course. A hybrid course is a mix between an online and a face to face course. Lecture material is delivered online, for students to access nearly anytime. During scheduled class time, students participate in activities. In addition, general strategies for putting the flipped classroom into action will be discussed.

12/1: Course Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs)
Facilitator: David Matus, PhD – Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Cell Biology

  • Course Based Undergraduate Research Experiences, or CUREs are a great way for students to get involved in research. Involving students in authentic research is more engaging than traditional lab courses and encourages deeper critical thinking and analysis. In this session, we will hear about a CURE lab offered at SBU, BIO 327: Developmental Genetics Lab.