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Center for Scholarly TechnologyFaculty Forum
November 14, 2014
Streamlining Online Course Design for a Better Student Experience
Spatial Sciences Institute
Graduate Programs in Geographic Information Science & Technology
Katsuhiko “Kirk” Oda, Lecturer
Susan H. Kamei, Associate Director
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Background
Online Graduate Programs in GIST:
spatial thinking, data acquisition,
integration, analysis, visualization,
application, and development
Goals of working group (Kirk Oda, Karen Kemp, Jordan Hastings,
and Susan Kamei):
• Determine best applicable practices;
• Develop faculty consensus for consistent use of Blackboard
throughout the GIST Programs; and
• Train and support fellow faculty.
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Working Group Results
1. Constructed a master Blackboard course “shell” or template.
2. Proposed a common terminology to faculty for adoption.
3. Built consensus on best practices among faculty.
4. Developed concept of
“creative collaborative” which
allows for some course
customization.
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Constructing the master course shell (template)
• Re-organized course contents and materials:
• Simplified navigation menu links
• Created “Announcements” as an entrance page
• Introduced “Synopsis” (overview, introduction, objectives)
• Created “Materials” and “Assignments” folders
• Identified common terms
• “Materials” terminology: notes, article, weblinks, handout
• “Assignments” terminology: discussion, tutorial, paper, self-check
• Introduced media
• Self-introduction videos
• Images, hyperlinks, audio, videos
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Building consensus among the SSI faculty members
• Shared updates at monthly faculty meetings.
• May 2014 Spring Faculty Retreat:
• Presentation/Demonstration
• Discussion
• Commitment to convert to new format starting with Summer 2014
courses
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Preliminary Student Feedback from SSCI 581
Question 1 (n = 25):The illustrations, videos and
interactions were used in the
right level.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
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Question 2 (n = 25)
• I liked the look and feel of the folders and items on the Blackboard course
site.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
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Question 3 (n = 25)
• I could navigate the folders and items on the Blackboard course site very
easily.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
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Question 4 (n = 25)
• The course content was appropriate and was presented in a structured
manner.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
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Question 5 (n = 25)
• The course has improved my knowledge on the subject.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
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Students’ voices
Example of Pros
• “I feel that the course is laid out very well on Blackboard.”
• “I appreciate that all the notes in the Announcement section is
also at the top of the Assignments section for each week. It
makes it very easy to reference what assignments need to be
completed.”
Examples of Cons
• “It took me a few tries to get comfortable with the Blackboard
maze. I think it could be simplified.”
• “Perhaps my ignorance, but getting to the week’s assignments
or to the week’s discussion involves navigating several menus
down in the site - explanation how to shortcut or bookmark
would be great.”
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Students’ voices: comparison between “old’ and
“new”
• Student experience in “old” course design vs. “new” course design
• Dr. Kemp’s class
• Students who experienced both “old” and “new” versions
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Wrap-up
Positive impacts:
• More dynamic and
interactive course sites
• Improved students’
experience across courses
• Increased instructors’ online pedagogical skills
• Enhanced sense of faculty collaborative culture
Fall 2014 – Spring 2015 work:• Continue “cloning” of master course shell for all GIST courses
• Continue course-by-course conversion
• Continue assessment of student and faculty experiences