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Strategies to Develop an Online/Hybrid Signals and Systems Course
... Equation sheets appear as a topic, in passing, in many different papers, although they may not be the primary focus of those papers, and in fact may be mentioned very briefly (e.g., [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]). One work mentioned them as not being allowed on a specific assessment [13], and a few mentioned specific lengths or other requirements. ...
This paper examines methods of actively engaging students in online university-level STEM courses. It describes a variety of synchronous and asynchronous engagement strategies, cites research supporting their effectiveness, and offers suggestions for maximizing the effectiveness of active engagement regardless of which strategies are adopted to achieve it. Recommended engagement practices include: (1) Take steps to establish and maintain teaching presence (set up mechanisms for regular interactions between you and your students) and social presence (regularly assign tasks that involve synchronous and asynchronous interactions among the students); (2) Make your policies, assignments, and expectations regarding active student engagement and the reasoning behind them explicit and clear to the students; (3) Carry out extensive formative assessment (e.g., synchronous in-class activities, low-stakes online quizzes, discussion boards, minute papers, and midcourse evaluations) and use the results to make continual adjustments in the design and implementation of engagement activities; (4) Anticipate some student resistance to active engagement and take steps to minimize or eliminate it; (5) Take a gradual approach to adopting new engagement strategies rather than attempting to implement every new strategy you hear about in the next course you teach.
The Index of Learning Styles© (ILS) is an instrument designed to assess preferences on the four dimensions of the Felder-Silverman learning style model. The Web-based version of the ILS is taken hundreds of thousands of times per year and has been used in a number of published studies, some of which include data reflecting on the reliability and validity of the instrument. This paper seeks to provide the first comprehensive examination of the ILS, including answers to several questions: (1) What are the dimensions and underlying assumptions of the model upon which the ILS is based? (2) How should the ILS be used and what misuses should be avoided? (3) What research studies have been conducted using the ILS and what conclusions regarding its reliability and validity may be inferred from the data?
The power of collaborative activities to improve students' learning, curricular retention, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward their instruction in face-to-face college classes is well supported by research. Whether the instruction qualifies as active learning, collaborative or cooperative learning, or an inductive approach such as inquiry-based, project-based, or problem-based learning, as long as the collaborations follow research-validated guidelines, the students on average outperform students taught entirely with lectures and individual assignments. A smaller but still substantial body of research shows similar benefits for online collaborative activities, but questions remain regarding the effectiveness of such activities and how best to implement them. This paper outlines synchronous and asynchronous online collaborative activities suitable for STEM courses, surveys research on the impacts of such activities on students' learning and attitudes, suggests effective implementation strategies, and offers recommendations for additional research.
Undergraduates need to develop critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and deep understanding of concepts. Concept maps are considered an educational tool that promotes meaningful learning and that has demonstrated potential effects in the learning process. Based on studies carried out in adult/higher education, the aim of this review is to identify the effects of concept mapping activities and to discuss their benefits and challenges in pedagogical practices. Findings show that concept maps promote development of critical thinking skills, facilitate integration between theory and practice, develop meaningful learning, promote technology inclusion, promote student collaboration, can lead to better academic scores, and can be used as a tool for the learning progress and assessment. The findings also indicate challenges in integrating concept mapping in academic practices such as students having difficulties in concept and link selection, student resistance, and software difficulties. Despite the limitations, concept maps are well accepted by students.
Background: The undergraduate pre-clerkship Population Health courses for University of Manitoba medical students underwent a mapping exercise to improve alignment between session learning objectives and the multiple choice questions (MCQs) used for learner assessment.
Methods: Each learning objective was mapped to all related MCQs in the exam bank. Learning objectives not linked to any specific MCQs were identified. All MCQs in the exam bank were mapped back to the learning objectives and all MCQs not corresponding to a learning objective were identified. In total, 536 MCQ were mapped to 358 learning objectives.
Results: Mapping results were shared with course leadership and instructors to affect practical changes in the Population Health courses, such as revisions and improvements to session learning objectives, and targeted development of new MCQs. Following the implementation of changes post-mapping exercise, our findings indicate a significant improvement in student satisfaction with the Population Health courses, although they did not have a discernable impact on exam performance.
Conclusions: The mapping exercise required an initial investment of resources, but produced an MCQ database that can be regularly maintained to ensure alignment between learning objectives and assessment, thereby contributing to ongoing curriculum quality and improvement, and improved exam reliability and validity.
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YJDJJ2E4TASZQQDGTADE/full?target=10.1080/0142159X.2019.1652261
Teaching and Learning STEM presents a trove of practical research-based strategies for designing and teaching courses and assessing students’ learning. The book draws on the authors’ extensive backgrounds and decades of experience in STEM education and faculty development. Its engaging and well-illustrated descriptions will equip you to implement the strategies in your courses and to deal effectively with problems (including student resistance) that might occur in the implementation. For a sample chapter, reviews, and information about ordering, go to <educationdesignsinc.com/book/>.
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