4/6/20101 Office/Department||

Getting Started with Course Redesign

Danae L. Hudson, Ph.D.

Brooke L. Whisenhunt, Ph.D.

Department of Psychology

History of our Redesign

• Redesigned Introductory Psychology (PSY 121) at Missouri State University

• Part of statewide initiative in academic collaboration and course redesign

• Partnered with National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) and serve as a participating institution in the Next Generation Learning Challenges grant (State of Missouri)

• Collaborative team effort including 5 full-time faculty, administrators, instructional designers, and graduate assistants

Recommendations for Starting the Redesign Process

STEP 1: Identify the need(s) for course redesign

Some Reasons to Consider a Redesign….

Our Traditional PSY 121

• General education course• Lecture only model• 153 students• 1 faculty instructor

• 65% full time faculty (tenure-track or instructor)• 35% per course

• Instructor: Student Ratio = 1:153• Assessments primarily multiple choice exams

• 4 or 5 per semester

PSY 121: Why Redesign?

STEP 2:

• Determine the scope of the redesign• One-section approach• All-section approach

• Decide if you need to partner with any course redesign specialists

PSY 121: Scope and Partnership

• All-sections approach• Redesigned 10 traditional sections of 153 students in the fall to 5

redesigned sections of 300

• Partnered with NCAT and numerous departments on campus• Part of a statewide initiative:

• Every state institution in Missouri redesigned at least one course that can ultimately be disseminated to other institutions, if they are interested

STEP 3: Assemble a Team

• Include faculty with experience teaching the course

• Include administrators and support staff

• Clearly identify a team leader• Understands the course challenges in the larger

political/economic context• Genuinely believes in the potential of course redesign• Effective at building relationships between faculty and

administrators

PSY 121: Our Team

STEP 4: Identify Goals to Establish Necessary Resources

• Short-term goals (i.e., this semester)

• Long-term goals (e.g., the life of the project)

• Team leader works to garner support from administration and commitment of adequate resources

The Importance of Learning Objectives: Developing GLOs and sLOs

STEP 5: Develop an Assessment Process

• Assessment helps facilitate the following:• Operationally defining course goals

• Identification of strategies to obtain goals

• Empirical evaluation of outcomes

• Combination of assessment plans during pilot phase and full implementation

• Pre-Post• Allows control for initial group differences

• Parallel• One pilot section compared to two sections of a traditional course

• Collected in Spring 2012

• Historical Data• Compared to data collected over past years

PSY 121: Assessment

PSY 121: Assessment Tools• Learning Outcomes

• 30-item comprehensive learning outcomes exam• Historical value

• 50-item comprehensive learning outcomes exam• Developed by the redesign team

1. Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest relationship?a. +.07b. +.62c. -.56d. -.81 2. In an experiment to determine the effects of tutoring on psychology exam scores, tutoring is the ____.a. Control conditionb. Intervening variablec. Independent variabled. Dependent variable 3. Angelo has just completed a 100-mile bicycle ride, but feels little pain or discomfort. His lack of pain is probably caused by the release of _____.a. Endorphinsb. Dopaminec. Acetylcholined. Curare

PSY 121: Assessment Tools

• DFW Rates• Final Course Grades/Course Completion

• Attendance• Using clicker participation points and sign-in sheets

• Student Evaluations• Standard evaluations• Course component evaluations

• Designed by redesign team specifically for this course

STEP 6: Develop the Structure and Content of the Course

Redesign • Identification of publisher materials that will meet the

course goals• How will you incorporate technology?

• Finding appropriate space

• Scheduling/timing of classes

PSY 121: Comprehensive Review of All Publisher Materials

Criteria Used to Evaluate Publisher Material

• Quality of the textbook/e-book

• Ease of website use for instructors and students

• Quality and quantity of instructor resources

• Instructor/student editing options within the e-book (add notes, video clips, etc.)

• Mastery quizzes with automatic grading and feedback

• Clicker content

• Experiential learning/simulation activities and video demonstrations/tutorials

• Quality of the test bank with proctoring/administration options

• Personalized student feedback/activities (based on performance on quizzes)

• Interactive PowerPoint presentations

• Instructional design/technical support

PSY 121: A Blended Course Design

PSY 121: Access to Course Staff

PSY 121: Weekly Expectations and Activities

PSY 121: Engaged with the Material in Class

• Clickers

• Peer Instruction

• Interactive Class Demonstrations

• Short Video Clips

PSY 121: Feedback for Students

• MyPsychLab Feedback

• Exam Feedback• Emails to students concerning performance (all levels)

• Congrats to those who performed well• Information on how to improve and resources to those who

need to improve

• Performance Interventions• Level 1 (followed Exam 1)• Level 2 (followed midterm grades)

PSY 121: Provide Students With Individualized Assistance

• Individualized study plan through MyPsychLab

• BearCLAW tutoring services available 25 hours per week with ULAs

• Interventions for struggling students

PSY 121: Learning Outcomes

Comparison of Redesign Means to Historical Departmental Means

30-Item Comprehensive ExamAll

SectionsFall 2012

PilotSpring 2012

Fall2011

Fall2010

Fall2009

Spring 2004

Fall 2004

Pretest 35%10.50(3.36)

36%10.73(3.65)

39%11.79(3.10)

39%11.56(3.44)

39%11.66(3.32)

41%12.32(2.87)

38%11.31(2.74)

Posttest 65%19.50(4.27)

66%19.84(4.70)

60%18.11(4.46)

52%15.62(3.74)

49%14.83(4.12)

55%16.49(4.24)

58%17.46(4.95)

% Improvement 86% 85% 54% 35% 27% 34% 54%

n 1340 102 302 415 509 87 98

PSY 121: Course Completion/DFW Rates

• Traditional (Fall 2011-2 sections)

• A, B, C, or D = 87%

• DFW = 24%

• Redesign (Fall 2012-5 sections)

• A, B, C, or D = 83%

• DFW = 24%

STEP 7: Educating Your Academic Community about

the Redesign • Change is uncomfortable

• Public relations work can be critical

• Seek opportunities to educate faculty, students, parents, and community members

PSY 121: Efforts to Educate Our Campus About the Redesign

1. Developed a presentation about the course for new student orientation (SOAR) targeting students and parents

2. Invited key administrators to attend a redesigned class (Department Head, Associate Provost, and Provost have all attended a redesigned course)

3. Regular presentations about the redesign process and outcomes to the full psychology faculty

4. Multiple presentations across campus and statewide

Contact Information

Danae L. Hudson, Ph.D.

Department of Psychology

Missouri State University

(417) 836-5470

DanaeHudson@missouristate.edu