In spring 2012 Angela Starrett, a mathematics instructor at the University of South Carolina Upstate, was teaching calculus, business calculus, and several other higher-level math courses. To provide students with extra support, she invited them to text her when they had questions. They took her
In a recent Magna Online Seminar, Ollie Dreon, associate professor in the School of Education at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, recommended varying assessment techniques in the online learning environment to motivate students and provide opportunities for multiple means of expression (a key principle of universal
Brian Udermann, director of Online Education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, thinks that proponents of distance education might not know all that they think they do about the subject. In a recent conference presentation, “Twenty Things You Should Know about Online Education but Might
We are finally entering an era of online content built specifically for the online environment. Much of this is being drive by MOOCs, which are starting to include quality video content with imagery that is designed to fit the communication principles of the Web. Happily,
Scenario-based learning can be an effective way for students to apply what they have learned to realistic situations. There are many different ways to design scenarios for online delivery, from text-based case studies to interactive, immersive simulations. Regardless of the resources that you have available,
The University of South Carolina’s College of Nursing offers several upper-division undergraduate online courses to accommodate on-campus students’ busy schedules. Between 230 and 250 students typically enroll in each of these courses, and despite these relatively large sections, the courses are engaging and effective.
As Ron Berk (known for his pithy humor) observes, the multiple-choice question “holds world records in the categories of most popular, most unpopular, most used, most misused, most loved and most hated.” According to one source I read, multiple-choice questions were first used around the
I’ve been delving a bit into the emotional aspects of teaching. They continue to be largely ignored in the research literature and in our discussions of teaching. Could that be because emotional things fit uncomfortably in the objective, rational, intellect-driven culture of the academy? We
This weekend I saw a diagram with visual representations of teacher-centered instruction juxtaposed to graphics illustrating learner-centered approaches. I heard myself telling someone that I used to think of them as separate, and I still see value in understanding the differences between them. But thinking
The January 15 post on group testing generated a nice collection of comments, more interesting alternatives, and requests for references.
