pathto

Pedagogy

University of ManitobaCentre for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning

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University Teaching Services (UTS) began more than 20 years ago and has played an important role in the teaching and learning environment at the University of Manitoba. Now, more than ever, our role has become critical. To better reflect our broadening and scholarly mandate UTS is changing its name: effective May 15, 2013. We are now the:

Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning When we reflect on today’s trends in higher education, it is apparent that there are many pressures on instructors across North America; greater competition for grant funds, increasing learner-teacher ratios, and accelerating enrollment in graduate programs to name a few.

Students similarly have pressures and needs; expectations for experiential learning and technology-based approaches to learning, in-school employment rates of 45%, family and job market pressures, and for international students, the significant changes associated with attending school here at U of M.

All of these considerations (and many more) create impacts on the process of teaching and learning and the Centre finds itself right in the middle of this! And that is just where we thrive.

With a mandate that includes both campuses and a mission that encompasses all of the strategic areas of importance at the U of M, i.e. academic

enhancement, student experience, Indigenous achievement and being an outstanding workplace, there is no shortage of opportunities for the Centre to positively impact teaching and learning.

Everyone in our unit is always ready to engage and assist, whether that is to design and provide custom workshops, explore new learning initiatives, or provide teaching and learning consultations for individual instructors, Departments or Faculties. Planning or revising a curriculum? About to undergo an accreditation visit? We can provide resources. Want to learn more about how to use technology and engage learners through active learning strategies? Interested in how classroom action research can inform your practice and add to your research portfolio? Look no further than the Centre.

We have truly enjoyed serving your teaching and learning needs as UTS – now, we look forward to working with you in many more ways.

Mark G. Torchia, Director

Do you prefer to read Path to Pedagogy in electronic or paper format? Please let us know. Go to SurveyMonkey:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KMBLQ25 and vote for electronic or paper.

In Your Opinion?

3Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Friday, June 7, 201311:30 - 2:00

South Side - Isbister Building183 Dafoe Road

BBQ Lunch & Open HouseYou are invited! 3rd Annual

Full details & registration at : www.umanitoba.ca/uts

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contents

16 Supporting New Faculty teaching Development

Mark G. TorchiaDirector204-474-7804

Eunice FriesenAssociate Director204-474-7456

Maggie FordAssociate Director204-474-9975

Erica JungProgram Adminstrator 204-474-7025

Sol Chu Information Technologist204-474-7042

Ryan Nicolson Information Technologist204-474-7665

Rita Froese Publishing Coordinator204-474-6958

Val Tautkus Office Manager204-474-6471

Faculty & Support Staff

10 Online Discussion ForumsTips for Managing the Load:Seven

8 STRR & Merit Awards

19 NEW* - BrowZine™

18 new books in our library

5Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Supporting New Faculty teaching Development

in every issue6 in this issue

7 reading corner

29 educational research

30 educational practices

34 teaching workshops

new books in our library

events 3 You are INVITED - BBQ

15 Creating Your D2L Course

20 New Faculty Institute

22 Universal Instructional Design

28 Graduate Student Seminar

39 The Cultural Difference

22 the New Faculty Program

Blogging for Learning24Intercultural Educational Grants - Recipients25

The CHET Opportunity26cHet Grad27

32 What is IF*AT?

In This Issue

Eunice Friesen, Associate Director, Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning

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This issue of Path to Pedagogy has taken a little longer than expected - not unlike our spring! We are publishing Path to Pedagogy immediately following our annual Students’ Teacher Recognition Reception event (STRR). The Center for Advancement in Teaching and Learning promotes evidenced based pedagogical practice. One of the most significant indicators of good teaching is the relationship between the teacher and the student. The STRR honors those relationships (see p.8). We provide an opportunity through the STRR for students to formally and publicly demonstrate their appreciation for teachers who have made a significant contribution in their life. Our Center also recognizes graduate students who have successfully completed our Certificate in Higher Education and Training (CHET) program. We celebrate at an annual graduation luncheon where they receive their Certificates (see p.27). Our annual Celebration of Teaching contest provides an opportunity for teachers who are passionate about their teaching and student’s learning to contribute their great ideas for enhancing the teaching and learning experience (see p.35). We celebrate with them at our annual barbecue where we make a draw all of the entries. The successful teacher receives a great prize.

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning regularly offers grants to promote scholarship in teaching. The recipients of the 2013 Intercultural grants are identified on p.25. We have also offered two paid registrations for the D2L- Fusion Conference in Boston this July. There is an ongoing Teaching with Technology grant program. We have a wide variety of local programming designed to improve teaching - the 2013 summer programs include: (full details and registration available at: www.umanitoba.ca/uts).

1. We have again partnered with Student Accessibility Services to provide a three day institute focussing on universal and aligned course design-Reaching ALL Learners: Universal Instructional Design (see p.23).

2. We also offer a 3 day institute dedicated to the pedagogically sound use of D2L for instruction- Creating Your D2L Course - Simplified , June 11-13 (see p.14-15).

3. In partnership with Student Advocacy and the Academic Center for Learning we are delivering a 2 day event- Essential Skills for Graduate Students: From the Thesis to the Classroom designed specifically for graduate students (see p.28).

4. We have also developed an entirely new program for pre-tenured faculty. It will be held on August 6-8, 2013 - Building Dynamic Teachers for Student Success just in time for the new academic year (see p.20-21).

5. We are also pleased to partner with the International Center for Students and Human Rights and Advisory Services to bring Lionel Laroche to the University for a one day event on June 12, 2013 - Understanding the Impact of Cultural Difference in Canadian Universities (see p.39).

At this point you might be thinking - well all of this is fine and good but what do you have for the teacher in the trenches? You will find innovative approaches to instruction including Team Based Learning (TBL) on p.7 (Reading Corner). There are some great suggestions for managing an online discussion group (see p.10) or using blogs in your teaching (p.24). You can also find an educational research article identifying factors which promote success for online students (see p.30). We have also introduced you to an interesting method of evaluation using the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) which uses a “scratch off” answer key (p.36). And we have even more workshops - see p.34.

So much to learn and so little time! Have a great summer!

7Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Reading Corner

There are times when the teaching experience is just not satisfying. One of those times is when the teacher seems to be the only one interested in the class as most of the students seem unengaged. This is not uncommon in the large classroom. This is often a motivator for a teacher to reflect on how to change their method of instruction in the classroom. This was the case for Larry Michaelsen who when faced with teaching 200 students developed a form of group work which he called Team Based Learning. This is different from traditional group work in several ways.

1) “The groups have to be properly formed and managed” (Michaelsen et al, p. 10) - the teams are heterogeneous in nature, the teams are assigned by the teacher, the students work together in the same team throughout the entire term, the classroom learning experience is done in teams, not by lecture. 2) “The students must be accountable for the quality of their individual and group work” (Michaelsen et al, p. 12) – for their individual pre-class preparation, for contributing to their team, for high quality team performance3) “Students must receive frequent and timely feedback” (Michaelsen et al, p. 14)-from their application-focused team assignments and from their readiness assurance tests (RAT)4) “Team assignments must promote both learning and team development” (Michaelsen et al, p. 15)

Part one of the book explains the fundamentals of teamwork from a variety of perspectives, The second part of the book provides nine stories of how team-based learning has been used in the health professions. These include medicine, biochemistry, physicians’ assistance, anatomy, sport and exercise physiology, psychiatry medical rehabilitation and nursing. Michaelsen maintains that students in the health professions need to learn a great deal of content but they also need to “develop skills in acquiring, synthesizing, and using end information to make clinical decisions for their patients” (Michaelsen et al, p. ix 12). These students must also learn interpersonal skills, All of this typically occurs in large classes.

Michaelson states that Team Based Learning (TBL) is the ideal pedagogical strategy to accomplish these learning outcomes. If you would like more information you can contact Eunice Friesen or borrow the book from our library.

Reference:Michaelsen, L., Parmelee, D., McMahon, K. Levine, R. (2008). Team-Based Learning for Health Professions Education: A guide to using small groups for improving learning. Stylus: Sterling, Virginia.

Team-Based Learning for Health Professions Education: A Guide to Using Small Groups for Improving Learning

1. During lecture, students are not attending to what is being presented 40% of the time (Pollio, 1984, 9.11).2. Students retain 70% of the material in the first 10 minutes of a lecture and 20% in the last 10 minutes (McKeachie, 1986, p.72).3. Students lose their initial interest and attention levels continue to drop as a lecture proceeds (Verner & Dickinson, 1967, pp. 85-90).4. Four months after taking an introductory psychology course, only 8% have more information than a control group that never had the course (Rickard, Rogers, Ellis, & Beidleman, 1988, pp. 151-152) As quoted in Michaelsen, et al., 2008

Eunice Friesen

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The mediocre teacher tells.The good teacher explains.The superior teacher demonstrates.The great teacher inspires.

Faculty/School Student K–12 Teacher U of M TeacherAgricultural & Food Sciences

Ryan Murphy Daryl Wiebe Martin Scanlon

Agriculture Matt Lowry Kerri Hayhurst Don Flaten

Architecture Aaron Pollock Marlene Leuschen T. Jeffrey Garcia

Arts Alexa Yakubovich Paula MacPherson Randall K. Jamieson

Arts Thomas Toles Mary Hawn Robert Smith

Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources

Michelle Curry Heather Singer John Hanesiak

Dental Hygiene Raymond Wang Irene Kocsis Lorene Belows

Dentistry Karen Rosolowski Benoit Lepine Doug Brothwell

Education Sarah Barton Lauri McFarlane Catherine Casey

Engineering Lucas Wazney Kevin Kitching Shawn Clark

Human Ecology Jennifer Bewza Mary-Anne Lovallo Joyce Slater

Kinesiology & Recreation Management

Sara Oswald Ginette Lafrenière LeAnne Petherick

Law Marlena Bova Michael Heilmann Evaristus Oshionebo

Desautels Faculty of Music Matthew Packer Jacquie Dawson Allen Harrington

Nursing Elaine Bronsdon Ruth Hallonquist Bernadine Wallis

Science Amber Gemmell Donna Martens Jeffrey Marcus

Science Ying Ying Liu Zhi Bing Chen Parimala Thulasiraman

Social Work Erica Siddall Ketri Wilkes Donald Robinson

2013 Students’ Teacher Recognition ReceptionEach year outstanding graduating students are given the opportunity to honour teachers who have made an important contribution to their education. Recognizing that academic growth and development occurs over many years, the outstanding students are asked to recognize two teachers; one from Kindergarten to Grade 12 years and one from their years at The University of Manitoba. Each student speaks about the impact their honoured teachers have made on their lives. Below is the list of students and their chosen teachers for this 21st year of celebrating Teaching Excellence at the Students’ Teacher Recognition Reception.

from left to right: Dr. David Barnard, President U of M, Dr. Joanna Asadoorian (Director-Dental Hygiene), Dr. Doug Brothwell (Outstanding U of M Teacher & Assoc. Dean Dentistry, Karen Rosolowski (Outstanding Student) Benoit Lepine (Outstanding K-12 Teacher), Honourable Erin Selby, Minister of Advanced Education & Literacy

from left to right: Randall K. Jamieson (Outstanding U of M Teacher, Alexa Yakubovich(Outstanding Student) Paula MacPherson (Outstanding K-12 Teacher),

(Left photo) photo includes guests of Michelle Curry(Outstanding Student) and Norm Halden, Dean, Clayton H. Riddell, Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources

(Left photo) from left to right: from left to right: Dr. David Barnard, President U of M, Dean Harvy Frankel - Social Work, Erica Siddall (Outstanding Student), Karen Rosolowski (Outstanding Student) Ketri Wilkes (Outstanding K-12 Teacher), Donald Robinson (Outstanding U of M Teacher), Honourable Erin Selby, Minister of Advanced Education & Literacy

(photo above) from left to right: Ginette Lafrenière (Outstanding K-12 Teacher), Michelle Curry (Outstanding Student), LeAnne Petherick (Outstanding U of M Teacher)

9Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

The mediocre teacher tells.The good teacher explains.The superior teacher demonstrates.The great teacher inspires. William Arthur Ward

2012 University of Manitoba Merit Awards for Teaching

We congratulate this year’s winners!

Dr. Reg Litz, Administration, Asper School of BusinessDr. Evaristus Oshionebo, Faculty of LawDr. Horace Luong, Chemistry, Faculty of Science

Merit Awards are awarded annually in four specified categories: a) Teaching b) Research, Scholarly Work, and Other Creative Activities c) Service d) Any combination of Teaching, Research, Scholarly Work and other Creative Activities, and Service Up to eight awards are given in the teaching category for meritorious teaching each year. For more information, please see the UMFA Collective Agreement (Article 25) or the Vice-President (Academic) and Provost website: http://umanitoba.ca/admin/vp_academic/outreach_merit.html

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The online discussion has over the years become a staple of online and blended learning courses. Online discussions can take a number of forms, from an open-ended class discussion to a more formal debate, from simple question and answer sessions to role playing exercises. I haven’t done the math but I would wager that 90% of Distance and Online Education courses at the University of Manitoba have a discussion forum. The number of face-to-face courses with online discussions is growing as well. But this ubiquity can come at a price; a poorly designed online discussion can create a feedback and grading nightmare. In this article I will explore ways in which you can moderate and grade good, online discussions more efficiently. Let me state up front that this is not my usual starting point. As an instructional designer my focus is on making learning more effective, not more efficient, but there are some things that allow you to do both.

For those of you who have not yet taken the plunge, an online discussion is like a shared email inbox. Everyone in the group can post messages to the same inbox. Online discussion forums are topic-centered, not author-centered like blogs, so messages are displayed according to the subject line, not the author of the message. The name of the author is displayed as well, but it is secondary. Posting a new message, as opposed to replying to a previous post, creates a new topic or ‘thread’ in the discussion forum. Replies to the new thread are arranged below it and, typically, with an indentation indicating this relationship. You end up with a page that looks like this:

New thread 1

Reply to thread 1

Reply to the reply to thread 1

Reply to the reply to the reply to thread 1

New thread 2

Reply to thread 2

Reply to the reply to thread 2

Reply to the reply to the reply to thread 2

Now here’s the rub. It is not unusual for an instructor to insist that all students participate in these discussions every week. For the sake of argument let’s say there are ten discussions in your course and students are required to post a minimum of one new message and one reply each week. It doesn’t take a math major to tell you that even with a small class of twenty students, let alone a large class of one hundred, you will end up with a load of messages posted to the board. In this scenario we are looking at a minimum of 400 postings, 2000 if you have the larger class. Now you are beginning to regret going down this road. Sure, you believe in students learning how to engage in reflective dialogue with their peers and all that, but how are you ever going to provide them with proper feedback? Where does the teacher fit into this picture? Do you have to reply to each posting? And, assuming you have made this a

7Tips for Managing the Load:

Jonathan Dyck, Distance & Online EducationOnline Discussion Forums

11Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

graded component in the course, does the grade have to assess everything a student has written? Do I grade for quality or simply add up the number of postings?

Good answers to these questions always start with ‘it depends’; it depends on what you are trying to achieve, what learning outcomes you’ve identified for students, and the strategy you have chosen. Different aims, objectives and strategies make for different expectations. There are, however, some things you can do regardless of the choices you make.

1. Insist on good subject headings.

Subject headings play a critical role in how online discussions are organized. Each subject heading, whether for a new thread or a reply to an existing message, should be unique. It should capture the essence of what the person has written. This is critical because the heading is an essential aid to reading, the student’s reading and yours. Subject headings are also an aid to effective writing. Let’s say a student has thrown together a response to a fellow student. Before hitting the ‘post to discussion’ button, he remembers that the teacher requires a unique heading. At this point the student asks himself (perhaps for the first time): What am I really saying here? What is my main point? Maybe I have too many points or no point at all. In the space of a few minutes, the simple insistence on a proper subject heading has had the desired effect.

2. Insist on a well-ordered postings.

Another good practice is to insist on new threads being new threads and replies being replies. You’d be surprised how often this simply tautology is ignored. If something is out of place, ask them to move it. Just imagine the beauty of a well-ordered discussion. You can actually see who is saying what, who agrees, who disagrees and maybe even why, just at a glance.

3. Insist on good, concise writing.

Discussions are a great way to practice writing well in small chunks. I remember the challenge of writing 75 word book notices for an academic journal. It is much easier to write a 500 word review. The rule of thumb for online discussions is to limit the length of postings to a maximum of a couple of hundred words but, students usually write paragraph length responses and this is a good thing. Where else are students going to get the opportunity to practice writing good paragraphs?

What I am saying is that we need to teach students the conventions of this form of written communication. Do yourself and your students a favour by making your expectations explicit and correcting students early on so they can adjust their practice.

4. Use the forum itself for providing feedback.

You are, no doubt, thinking about the implications of all this. If you make good writing a requirement, how are you going to give them feedback on this? Is individualized feedback required and, if so, how will you manage to provide it? The answer to the first part of the second question is, yes, feedback on individual contributions is required. The way to manage this is to use the format to your advantage. Comment on select, individual messages in the forum itself and do so with a view to benefitting the whole group. Feedback to one is feedback to 10, 20 or 100.

In writing this I am reminded of the instructor who included a discussion forum in each unit of an online course. Halfway through the first offering she left a voice message asking me for guidance on how she should return the graded discussions to students. I was a little puzzled by this until I discovered that she had printed out all the online discussions and proceeded to mark them on paper as she would an essay. Great commitment. Highly inefficient. And she kind of missed the point of the forum.

5. Organize a practice round or two.

In keeping with the above points, I suggest that you organize a practice round or two at the start of the course in which you focus on getting the mechanics right. State your expectations clearly and alert students to the fact that the first discussion is a low-stakes opportunity to come to grips with this component of your course. By dealing with these matters early in your course you clear the decks and prepare the way for more substantive things later on.

6. Wrap it up.

Another example of an efficient (and effective) practice is to post a summative review of the discussion. Wrapping it up highlights the connections with the learning objectives, course content and prepares the way for what comes next.

7. Use a rubric

Let’s say you have stated your expectations for online discussions, organized a practice round, and, by means of occasional comments and feedback, helped students become competent participants in this form of academic discourse. Now it is time to grade each student’s contribution. My final piece of advice is to use a rubric. A rubric is like a map that highlights the essential features and helps newcomers find their way. A fine example of a rubric for you to consider is one developed by Joan Vandervelde at the University of Wisconsin – Stout (http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics/discussionrubric.html ).

continued on page 12

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Vandervelde’s rubric scores students’ performance on three dimensions: Critical Analysis, Participation as a Member of the Learning Community, and Professional Communication and Etiquette. If you decide to use a rubric, start with a good example that comes close to what you would yourself wish

to see and adapt it to fit the specific circumstances of your course. Post the rubric to the course website along with the instructions for your online discussion forums. You can then use it in the context of providing formative feedback during the course and in your final assessment.

Conclusion

I began by raising the specter of a course in which you find yourself laboring under the load of a thousand messages. The suggestions I made were aimed at helping you manage the workload while at the same time maintaining high standards for student performance. Online discussions are an excellent strategy for engaging students, motivating them and fostering intellectual growth so I hope all this talk of workload hasn’t dampened your interest in using them. If you are interested in designing or redesigning an online discussion for your course, I suggest that you read p. 3.79 in the UTS Teaching Handbook for ideas on how to get started. You may also want to consider signing up for the The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning workshop I will be offering on May 29th.

13Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Criteria Unsatisfactory=0 Limited=1 Proficient=2 Exemplary=3 ScoreCritical Analysis Discussion postings

show little or no evidence that readings were completed or understood. Postings are largely personal opinions or feelings, or “I agree” or “Great idea”, without supporting statements with concepts from the readings, outside resources, relevant research, or specific real-life application.

Discussion postings repeat and summarize basic, correct information, but do not link readings to outside references, relevant research and do not consider alternative perspectives or connections between ideas. Sources are not cited.

Discussion postings display an understanding of the required readings and underlying concepts including correct use of terminology and proper citation.

Discussion postings display an excellent understanding of the required readings and underlying concepts including correct use of terminology. Postings integrate an outside resource, or relevant research, to support important points. Well-edited quotes are cited appropriately. No more than 10% of the posting is a direct quotation.

Participation as a Member of the Learning Community

Discussion postings do not contribute to ongoing conversations or respond to peers’ postings. There is no evidence of replies to questions or comments or as new related questions or comments.

Discussion postings are at midpoint or later in the module or contributions are only posted on the last day of the module.

Discussion postings sometimes contribute to ongoing conversations as evidenced by affirming statements or references to relevant research or, asking related questions or, making an oppositional statement supported by any personal experience or related research.

Discussion postings respond to most postings of peers several days after the initial discussion.

Discussion postings contribute to the class’s ongoing conversations as evidenced by affirming statements or references to relevant research or, asking related questions or, making an oppositional statement supported by any personal experience or related research.

Discussion postings respond to most postings of peers within a 48 hour period.

Discussion postings actively stimulate and sustain further discussion by building on peers’ responses including building a focused argument around a specific issue or asking a new related question or making an oppositional statement supported by personal experience or related research.

Discussion postings are distributed throughout the module’s time frame. Consistently responds to postings of peers within 24 hours.

Professional Communication and Etiquette

Written interactions on the discussion board show disrespect for the viewpoints of others.

Written responses contain numerous grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. The style of writing does not facilitate effective communication.

Some of the written interactions on the discussion board show respect and interest in the viewpoints of others.

Written responses include some grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors that distract the reader.

Written interactions on the discussion board show respect and interest in the viewpoints of others.

Written responses are largely free of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. The style of writing generally facilitates communication.

Written interactions on the discussion board show respect and sensitivity to peers’ gender, cultural and linguistic background, sexual orientation, political and religious beliefs.

Written responses are free of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. The style of writing facilitates communication.

Total /9

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Adapted and used with permission from Joan M. Vandervelde Original online at: http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics/discussionrubric.html

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Desire2Learn

w

Creating Your D2L Course –

simplified!Summer Institute

June 11-13, 2013

Centre for theAdvancement of Teaching & LearningComplete details & registration at:www.umanitoba.ca/uts

15Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Desire2Learn

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currently, many universities in Canada require some type of teaching dossier as part of how they evaluate their faculty’s teaching abilities in the

tenure/ promotion process. Although the requirements for a teaching dossier vary from institution to institution faculty members are encouraged to include a variety of materials that describe their teaching philosophy, duties, activities, self-reflection and impact. A recent ethics approved case study at the University of Manitoba explored firstly whether new faculty demonstrate a development of their teaching skills in their dossier and secondly what supports or challenges impact that development. Participants were self-selected new faculty members enrolled in the New Faculty Program at the University of Manitoba. The New Faculty Program is a comprehensive program designed to develop teaching skills. Participants are required to identify a teaching mentor, participate in 9 hours of professional development sessions, engage in self-reflective practice and develop a teaching dossier. Over the course of their first two years in the new faculty teaching program, participants developed a teaching dossier which contained their teaching philosophy, goals, evidence of practice, scholarly activities and an ongoing self-reflective component. At the end of two years the researchers met with the participants to review and/or discuss their teaching dossier. The review process looked for patterns of growth associated with the stages of teaching development through an examination and/or discussion of their philosophy and evidence of teaching effectiveness and reflection. This was followed by an hour long semi-structured interview where they shared their perceptions of which factors assisted/impeded their growth as teachers and the development of their dossier.

The study found that the majority of the participants struggled with linking the evidence in their dossier to their teaching development and most of the participants either did not have a developed dossier or viewed it as a storage device to collect materials under the categories of research, teaching and service. Although the participants indicated that attendance at a teaching dossier workshop did not impact their approach to their dossier two of the participants identified an interaction or an ongoing relationship with a mentor as a catalyst for developing their dossier in a more substantive way than the other participants in the study. This is consistent with both the research on the development of expertise that identifies exposure to mentors as an important factor in the development of one’s skills (Berliner, D.C., 2001) and emerging research that indicates only a small percentage of workshop attendees actually change their behaviour as a result of a singular or limited exposure to ideas or strategies (Gawande, A., 2011).

Teaching DevelopmentSupporting New Faculty

Cheryl Kristjanson, Medical Education

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Although this research study was unable to demonstrate for the majority of the participants that the dossier was used to demonstrate a growth in teaching development it was able to identify a number of supports and challenges that affected the participants’ development. It was clear from the interviews that an interaction with a colleague(s) within their department or Faculty was a key factor in assisting them in their teaching. Almost every participant talked about a significant encounter, relationship or collegial group that supported them in their first year or two of teaching. These colleagues were particularly helpful because they were able to provide context, feedback and support. New faculty also indicated that teaching within their area of expertise was a critical factor because it increased their confidence levels and reduced the amount of stress they experienced. The issue of stress was identified as a significant challenge to their teaching including the competing demands on their time, teaching in an area outside their expertise and dealing with difficult students. In particular, they felt their focus of attention is being pulled from their teaching duties toward their research programs. The importance of feeling prepared to teach was identified as the most important strategy to combat this stress.

The findings of this study mirror much of what we know from the research on teaching development. It has been widely understood that the experiences of instructors are not static. Katz (1972) was one of the first to indicate that the needs of teachers change as they gain experience and move from one stage to the next. She argues that the “location and timing of training should change as the instructor develops. In the beginning, they need assistance in specific skills and insight into the context and culture of their situation. This type of help is best provided on site. Later an instructor is beginning to identify the differences and needs of individual students; here on-site help continues to be valuable as well as other specialists to help strengthen their skills at this time” (Katz, 1972, p.53). This notion of site specific faculty development is confirmed by Lynn who “argues that teaching development is a fluid process and influenced by both the culture and context of their individual institutions” (2002, p.179).

McDonald & Elias also found that the transition into teaching created stress and instructors “struggle with feeling prepared to manage their classes; dealing with unfamiliar teaching materials and subjects and recommended a much more

careful study of the professional development of the teacher from their initial teaching experiences through their few years of teaching” (1983, p.5). Several other authors have also noted the significance of understanding the developmental phases of teachers in order to improve ongoing professional development; for instance, Burden states that “when examining teaching as a profession, educators cannot ignore the developmental changes teachers experience throughout their careers. Information about these changes provides insight into the nature of teaching and teacher growth, and provides a data base for teachers, administrators, and professors to improve teaching” (1982, p.1). More recently MacDougall & Drummond (2005) conducted a study where they attempted to identify the ways in which doctors learn to teach and or train future physicians. Four areas emerged in importance: “acquisition of knowledge and skills; modeling and practice of skills; encouragement and motivation, and internal and external constraints on their teaching and learning. They concluded their study by suggesting a model where doctors start as learners, learning to learn and watching teachers teach, acquiring and practicing skills, and subsequently move on to reflect on their teaching” (MacDougall & Drummond, 1986, p. 1213).

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Our new faculty members were unanimous in their views that more supports need to be available at the Department or Faculty level focused on the principles that underpin their current curriculum and context and these views are supported by the research on teaching development. In order to facilitate the teaching development of our new faculty we need to ensure that we are incorporating the evidence associated with teaching development. Current research as well as this particular study provides us with some insights into how we might better support our new faculty member in that endeavor. References:Berliner, D.C. (2001). Learning about and learning from expert teachers. International Journal of Educational Research, 35, 463-412. Burden, Paul R. (1982). Implications of Teacher Career Development: New Roles for Teachers, Administrators, and Professors. SP

021 490. Slippery Rock, PA: Paper presented at the National Summer Workshop of the Association of Teacher Educators.Gawande A., (2011). Personal Best. Retrieved from http://newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/13. Katz, Lilian G. 1972. Developmental Stages of Preschool Teachers, The Elementary School Journal 73(1);50-54.Lynn, Susan K. 2002. The Winding Path: Understanding the Career Cycle of Teachers, The Clearing House 75(4);179-82.MacDougall, J., & Drummond, M.J., (2005). The development of medical teachers: an enquiry into the learning histories of 10

experienced medical teachers. Medical Education, (39): 1213-1220.McDonald, Frederick J. and Elias, Patricia, McDonald, Frederick J. and Elias, Patricia. 1983. The Transition Into Teaching: The

Problems of Beginning Teachers and Programs to Solve Them. Summary Report. SP 025 771. Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ. Sponsored by the National Institute of Education, Washington, DC.

Acknowledgements: Dr. Mark Torchia for assisting with the initial interviews and Tara Prakash for assisting with the initial literature review.

(Continued from page 17)

NEW Books in the Library of The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Top Shelf Books: Student Ratings of Instruction are grounded in research and provide clear and practical strategies

for evaluating teaching using student ratings of instruction like the SEEQ.

Hativa, Nira. (2013). Student ratings of instruction: Recognizing effective teaching. Creatspace

Hativa, Nira. (2013). Student ratings of instruction: A practical approach to designing, operating, and reporting . Creatspace

Berk, R. (2013). Top 10 flashpoints in student ratings and the evaluation of teaching: What faculty and administrators must know to protect themselves in employment decisions. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

This book is a humorous look at all the “hot” topics in the evaluation of teaching. The topics are succinctly stated and supported by research. Each chapter ends with a recommendation for evidenced based practice. This is an essential read for all faculty members involved in the evaluation of teaching.

19Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

New e-journal app BrowZine™ allows you browse the Libraries e-journal collection on your iPad!The University of Manitoba Libraries has recently purchased the new iPad app BrowZine™, which allows you to browse, read and collect e-journals in many disciplines. We know it is difficult to keep track of all the new e-journals that the Libraries subscribe to, especially when they come bundled with hundreds of titles in an e-journal package. Since we are not all librarians, nor information detectives, the BrowZine™ app has made it possible to knit together all the various journal issues that the Libraries subscribes to and present you with a complete journal run, representing hundreds of subject areas. Let’s start filling your bookcase! At the bottom menu bar, go to into “Settings” and type in your U of M 14-digit library number and PIN. Click on BrowZine™ Library” and under the “SUBJECTS” button, (or if you are looking for a specific title click on the “TITLES A-Z”) start browsing and building your personal bookshelves. If you are interested in art, choose from the broader heading “Arts and Humanities,” then “Art and Design” or “Fine Arts,” and start saving the journal titles to your book case. You can read them now, or if pressed for time, save them for later reading under the “Saved Articles” button. However, be aware that you can only save one bookshelf of titles in TOTAL to your iPad. I learned this the hard way and after choosing dozens of titles from the list (and spending over an hour on this), found to my horror that only 16 had been saved! Since BrowZine™ is such a new product, there will inevitably be some bugs. I have since contacted them and have been assured that they are working on fixing this problem!So, in the meantime, download the BrowZine™ app, do some exploring and fill your bookcase and get caught up on your e-journal reading! Liv Valmestad, Art Librarian & BrowZine™ Champion

Leaf through our journals on your IPad!

NEW Books in the Library of The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning

NEW!

20

Our future - we’re counting on you!

New Faculty InstituteBuilding Dynamic Teachers for S tudent Success!

Follow our website for upcoming details: umanitoba.ca/uts

21Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Our future - we’re counting on you!

New Faculty InstituteBuilding Dynamic Teachers for S tudent Success!

August 6-8, 20132 1/2 days

22

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning will be offering a newly designed development program for pre-tenured faculty members. The program addresses issues that are specific to teaching and learning, supervising Graduate Students, research and to achieving life balance. The program will include a summer institute, interactive workshops throughout the year, one-on-one consultations, a mentorship program and social events. This summer we will officially “kick start” the new program with a Teaching and Learning Institute, which will focus on topics especially meaningful for new faculty. Participation in the New Faculty Program is optional, but can be a critical resource for new faculty as they take on their new role at the University of Manitoba. People who are enrolled in the current New Faculty Program will have one year to complete the current program, which after that time they will have the opportunity to enroll in the new program. We hope all new faculty will join us!

The New Faculty Program

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning is championing teachers at the University of Manitoba by celebrating teaching excellence in the new publication - Teaching Life. The first edition will be available in May 2013.

23Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Reaching ALL Learners

UniversalInstructional

Design

A collaboration between The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning

& Student Accessibility Services

Thank you to all the great participants of the “Reaching ALL Learners” Summer Institute (May 13-15). We came from many different faculties. We had three great days learning how to develop constructively aligned courses designed to ensure that all learners are accommodated and included in the learning process. We laughed, learned, ate together and shared great stories about teaching.

Who knew a summer PD institute could be so much fun?!

24

Blogging for learningSol Chu & Eunice Friesen

Blog, a portmanteau of web log, is considered a form of micro-publishing and rose in popularity in the last decade of what many consider to be the “social networking” era of the internet age. Blogs are reflective tools by nature and a quick Google search will return many research articles around their effectiveness as a teaching tool. Some are available here:

A Sampling of ArticlesBrescia, W. & Miller, M. What’s it worth? (2006). The perceived benefits of instructional blogging, The Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education,(5). Retrieved from http://ejite.isu.edu/Volume5/Brescia.pdfMurugaiah, P., Azman, H., Ya’acob, & Thang, S. (2010). Blogging in teacher professional development: its role in building computer assisted language teaching skills. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (6)3, 73-87. Retrieved from http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=1047 Reynard, R. (2010). Avoiding the five most common mistakes in using blogs with students. Available at https://amser.org/index.php?P=AMSER--ResourceFrame&resourceId=13390Chai, S. Kim. M. (2010). What makes bloggers shared knowledge? An investigation of the role of trust. International Journal of Information Management (30). 408-415.

Information Services & Technology has implemented a WordPress system (http://blogs.cc.umanitoba.ca) that is available for all interested instructors. You can initiate the process by contacting the Help & Solutions Centre (support@umanitoba.ca) and providing the following information: • Your UMNet ID • Your Course Number, Title and SectionOnce you have received your blog, you can have your students’ join your blog once they have established their access to the WordPress server by logging into it. Whether you’d like to use a blog for your course, group work or individual reflections, an information technologist from the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning can sit down with you to provide pedagogically sound advice and experiences that remove most of the anxiety and places the focus back on learning and the learning experience. We have helped many instructors successfully implement blogs in the Faculty of Education, Faculty of Human Ecology, Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Nursing (just to name a few…).Example:Blogs are being used for reflective journaling between instructors and their students. The students are required to submit a weekly reflective blog to their instructor who then responds to the reflection. Some of the perceived advantages for the instructors are: • decreased use of technology - prior to using blogs the instructors would receive an email attachment from the students which they would need to save it to their computer, complete their response to the reflection and resend the file back to the student. Using the blog eliminates the file saving, editing and resending. This allows for more time to formulate and post reflective responses.

• increased continuity - it is much easier to scroll back through the blog to see student’s previous reflection entries and responses rather than opening multiple files. This better allowed the instructor to see a student’s progress thereby providing feedback on their progress and prompting the students to deeper learning. • improved instructor responses- instructors find it easier to respond to the students using the blog format so find themselves writing longer and more reflective responses to the students. • increased number of reflections - due to the ease of posting blog entries instructors find that students as well as instructors respond to each other more frequently than the prescribed assigned reflections. It seems to operate more like an asynchronous chat. • increase depth of reflections- the ability for both the student and the instructor to scroll back to previous responses allows for a more considered response avoiding the stereotypical response that a student might be inclined to give on a weekly basis. • improved accessibility - the blog can be accessed through a smart phone, tablet or a computer. All that is required is an Internet connection. This means that a busy instructor does not need to wait until they get to their office or back home to formulate their responses to their students. All of these responses are also relevant for students who have responded very positively to this use of technology in their clinical learning experience.

Please see “Practice What You Teach” on page 30 in this publication for an additional use of blogs.

25Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

The Intercultural Education Grants sponsored by The Centre for the Advancement of

Teaching and Learning support a range of teaching and learning projects across the disciplines. This

year’s projects represent various efforts to address intercultural issues at the course, program and/or department level within an academic department

and student support services.

We would like to congratulate the recipients of the 2013

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning

Intercultural Education Grants:

• Mrs. Breanne Guiboche (International Centre for Students) Integrating the Intercultural Development Inventory into Pre-departure and Re-entry Programming for Students in Global Education and Mobility Programs

• Dr. Verónica Loureiro-Rodriguez (Departments of Linguistics, and Spanish, Faculty of Arts) Integrating and Assessing Cultural Understanding in a First-Year Spanish Course

• Ms. Lezlie Brooks, Dr. Charlotte Rhodes, and Dr. Ingrid Toews (Standardized Patient Program, Faculty of Medicine) Intercultural Communication Workshop Utilizing Standardized Patients and Cultural Interpreters

26

The CHET OpportunityChristine Scoville, Nursing

“You should take the CHET course” was heard from faculty and staff alike when I expressed an interest in classroom instruction at the Faculty of Nursing. After working for many years, I entered graduate studies to complete a clinically based master’s degree and return to practice. While in the program, taking on the role of teaching assistant sparked an interest in instructing. As a past clinical education facilitator, I had experience with the integration of classroom learning into clinical practice, but recognized I had few skills for the lecture setting – so I signed up.

Ready for a list of “do’s and don’ts”, instead, I was guided to reflect on how we learn to reveal our personal teaching philosophies. Further small group discussions helped me see the philosophical diversity among my colleagues and its impact on teaching style and technique. Although some in our group initially resisted, a simple truth about classroom instruction emerged: a lecture need not be a lecture. Couched in my philosophy, careful consideration of the material, who wishes to acquire it, setting and timeframe, allows for a myriad of participatory techniques to engage the learner regardless of class size – and these skills should develop and change over time. The integration of many approaches within the CHET seminars showed me some of what is possible; participation in a dynamic, interactive class of 74 students with a skilled mentor (CHET practicum) convinced me it is achievable.In the CHET course, like most opportunities, success depends on effort – both within the seminars and your home faculty. Discussing my CHET program with faculty met with an eagerness to share experiences and innovative ideas, additional lecture time, and greater responsibility within the teaching assistant role, all coupled with constructive feedback and support. This tells me the CHET program is trusted and valued. Although it is sometimes entered as a requirement for fledgling instructors, many soon embrace it as a career changing opportunity – the CHET opportunity.

“……I was guided to reflect on how we learn to reveal our personal teaching

philosophies.”

27Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

back row: Dexter Williams (Engineering), Joe Ackerman (Engineering), Behzad Bashiri (Engineering), Mohammad Al-Amin Sadek (Engineering)front row: Homa Fashandi (Engineering), Ali Momen Mehrabani (Engineering), Roniele Cordeiro (Food Science), Filofteia Gheorghe (Science), and Agnes Pawlowska (Arts)

C ongra tula t ions 2013 CHET Graduation

Certification in Higher Education Teaching

Program information at:http://intranet.umanitoba.ca/academic_support/uts/programs/chet.html

28

Graduate Student Seminar

June 4 - 5, 2013

Essential Skills for Graduate Students:

From the Thesis to the Classroom

For complete information and to register please go to:http://umanitoba.ca/graduate_studies/workshops/grad_seminar_2013.html

Educational REsEaRch

29Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Educational REsEaRch

Thank you to Lori Wallace, the Dean of Extended Education, who brought to our attention the recent research project by Carolyn Hart. It is an integrated literature review on factors affecting student persistence in online courses. The article is very detailed including tables describing each of the research projects and their findings.

Carolyn defines persistence as “the ability to complete an online course despite obstacles or adverse circumstances” (Hart, p. 30). The opposite of persistence is attrition – the withdrawal from an online course. The literature supports persistence as a key factor in student success in an online course (Hart, p. 38).

Those factors which facilitate persistence include:

• College status and graduating term

• Flexibility, asynchronous format, time management

• Goal commitment

• Grade point average

• Quality of Interactions and Feedback

• Satisfaction and Relevance

• Self-Efficacy and Personal Growth

• Social Connectedness or Presence

• Support (Hart, p. 30-31)

Those factors which create barriers to persistence include:

• Auditory learning style

• Basic computer skills

• College status and graduating term.

• Difficulty in accessing resources

• Isolation and Decreased Engagement

• Lack of computer accessibility

• Non-academic issues

• Poor communication

Carolyn has consolidated the factors which promote student success in online learning into the following 6:

1. Satisfaction with online learning-this includes “the quality of the program, interactions with students and peers, the relevancy of the course to individual needs, and with the learning environment itself” (Hart, p. 32)

2. A sense of belonging to the learning community-includes the ability to connect with the course and the students and faculty in the course.

3. Motivation-this includes self-efficacy, internal locus of control and personal growth (Hart, p. 33)

4. Peer, and family support – faculty can also provide “perceptions of support through feedback and social presence” (Hart, p. 33)

5. Time management skills – “Persistent students tend to have better study habits and complete work in a timely manner” (Hart, p. 23)

6. Increased communication with the instructor-this includes timely and constructive feedback as well as organization of the course and responsiveness of the instructor.

To those involved with online learning these factors will come as no surprise. The challenges to engage students in learning and remain connected to students still remain important skills for teachers to develop and practice.

For a complete exploration of these concepts please visit Carolyn Hart’s article online.

Reference:

Hart, C. (2012). Factors Associated With Student Persistence in an Online Program of Study: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 11(1). Available at: http://www.ncolr.org/issues/jiol/v11/n1/factors-associated-with student-persistence-in-an-online-program-of-study-a-review-of-the-literature#.UWcHiqKG2iM

Eunice Friesen

Student Persistence in Online Courses

30

Educational PRacticEs“Practicing What We Teach”In my role as educational developer at The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning I continuously promote a variety of innovative teaching and assessment strategies. This winter I had the opportunity to teach a first year class of 75 so I thought that it might be wise for me to practice what I teach. For those of you who know me, you realize that I can get quite enthusiastic and have more ideas than I have time to implement, so it will come as no surprise to you that I decided to use at least five new pedagogical strategies. This was probably a bit ambitious but the end result seemed quite favorable. Let me tell you my story.

I was teaching an introductory course in a health-based faculty. Students were enrolled in the course for basically two reasons. One was because it is a required course to get into the faculty and secondly it was an opportunity for the student to see if the profession might be a suitable fit for them. This occurred during the winter term so some students had already experienced one term in University whereas other students were just beginning University. The demographics of the students were diverse in age, past experience and culture. The class was held for three hours in the evening, off campus in a large classroom. Although the individual desks had attached chairs they were separate from each other and the room was large enough to reposition desks into groups. Given that I am not a big proponent of strict lecture-based instruction and that students would be coming to an evening course after a full day of classes, it didn’t seem like the lecture method would be the most successful in engaging students in the learning. That meant that I

had to come up with an idea as to how to engage students in the learning with each other when most of them were new to University and to each other. Upon reflection I came to the realization that Team Based Learning might be a very appropriate fit. Teamwork is essential in healthcare if we want to provide the best possible patient/client outcomes. When experts from various health professions collaborate to develop and implement a plan of care for the patient then that plan has the capacity to reduce the potential of medical error. All health professions curricula include the concept of teamwork embedded throughout

the theory and practice. Although there is much lecture and rhetoric around teamwork and interprofessional cooperation, students have minimal opportunities to develop this skill set. The opportunities that they do have are generally group-based activities designed for a single class discussion or for purposes of assessment and evaluation. Team work in the real world means that you will be working with same people for an extended period of time for the good of a diverse patient/client population. Therefore, I decided to use a modified TBL approach as the instructional strategy in this introductory course. This meant that the students would be divided into heterogeneous teams within the first hour of the first class. These teams would then work together throughout the entire duration of the course. Their lived experience in teamwork would help them develop a broad variety of skill sets including listening, communicating, negotiating, reflecting, critical thinking, etc. The premise was that if students found the class teamwork experience highly unpleasant they would do well to reconsider a career in healthcare which would require them to work in teams their entire professional lives. So, that is what I did! We had 15 groups of five students each. I chose five attributes that I believed would be important for

Eunice Friesen

31Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Educational PRacticEsan effective working team. They included characteristics such as students who had a previous degree, students who had an immediate family member who worked in healthcare, students who were new to University this term, students who would commit to bringing a computer to class every day and being the team scribe, etc. The details for establishing teams are described in Larry Michaelsen’s book on team based learning in the health professions which is described on page7. The student’s first task was to introduce themselves to each of the team members. Students later shared with me that they were more open about themselves knowing that they would be working with the same group of people for the next 13 weeks. The second task for the team was to choose a team name. There was a lot of laughing and uncertainty and discussion around this activity. The teams thereafter were then regularly referred to by their team name. Some team names - “iron nurses” after iron chefs, nurseketeers and team “no name” etc. For the third activity the teams had an opportunity to renegotiate values of some assessment strategies using the methods described in Larry Michaelsen’s book on team based learning. For the remainder of the course students learned in their teams. Each week the students had an activity to complete within the team. The activities included case-based learning, activities requiring them to exercise information literacy skills, games and reflections. Students were held accountable for their learning by documenting their learning on the group blog which was the second instructional strategy used in the course.

Blogging is generally perceived to be an individual reflective activity. The owner of the blog posts reflections about a variety of ideas or

concepts and others respond to those posts. In this class blogging was used for teams to either post their learning from the team assigned activity or their reflection to a posed question. The blog posting was made by the team not by the individual. Teams had approximately one hour to engage in a specific concept during the class. They used that time to research information, share previous learning, to explore ideas from different cultural perspectives and started to come to a sense of what they had learned and how they would communicate that learning as a team in their blog post. They were required to post their responses to the blog by 4:30 pm on the day of the next week’s class. Teams shared with me that they connected face to face between classes or used email to share their draft back and forth as they were sharing feedback and editing the final draft. So in effect, the students worked with the concept and the issue not

just during the class time but for an entire week following the class time until they came to a consensus about what they wanted to say that represented the agreement of all their team members. My rationale was that there is often a diversity of opinion around what is the best plan of care for a patient/client but the entire health care team has to come to a consensus about what they are going to do as team that will help the patient the most. These class activities were not graded. The students certainly asked if it was graded but my response was that the activity was to help them learn and not all learning requires a grade. The teams were also required to complete four reflective assignments over the course of the term - these were graded. Their first graded reflection was done more like an argument paper, not a reflection. The depth of their reflective assignments increased the longer the teams worked together. Over time the students used great analogies in their reflections. For example, in response to the question How do you function as a team?; one team identified the many ways in which they were like a boy band, another team identified how they worked like the iron chefs and perceived me to be the master chef, another group used the analogy of a school of fish and how they work together in that way. It was a real joy for me to hear a noisy classroom every class.

At this point you might be thinking, well my classroom would be noisy too if the students were allowed to talk about whatever interested

them. Despite the unusual nature of the class, there was structure. This is where I used the third and fourth strategies which were The Flipped Classroom with a BYOD (bring your own device) requirement. In a flipped class students are expected to have completed the reading prior to class which allows the students to explorethe content more deeply during class. Students were also expected to use the Internet and databases during class to help find answers to questions. I did not want them to perceive me or the TA to be the fountain of knowledge. In the real world we are all expected to be lifelong learners. In the healthcare profession there are new advances daily which require the professional to be continually researching, learning and sharing the new knowledge with their team members. Therefore, I wanted the students to begin to develop both the mindset and practice of looking for answers, not just asking the teacher for the answer to a question. For example: the initial portion of the course content included the history of the profession. I gave teams the opportunity to choose one historical individual from a list of names and research that

the flipped classroom

32

(Continued from page 31)

person’s contribution to the profession’s history. Each team then presented their information using flipchart paper as well as verbally to the remainder of the class. The teacher’s role was to physically organize the flipchart papers chronologically and help the students see how the profession developed over time and in response to the social and economic historical changes. During the team discussion time my role was to prompt thinking, to ask provoking questions, to encourage appropriate information literacy skills, to keep students on track, etc.

All students were encouraged to bring an electronic device to class including laptops, smart phones and notebooks or ipads, etc. The biggest challenge was not in the disruptions in the classroom

but rather in having 75 students access the same wireless Internet. The teams were encouraged to have one team member maintain their connection to the Internet so that each team would have better access. There was always a portion of the class where I provided instruction including current evidenced based practice information on the topic and shared stories of lived experiences. During this time I would like to say that 100% of the students paid attention and did not use their device but in reality it was more like 95%.

Given that I like technology and we are encouraged within the

University to try to live “greener”, I decided to use the learning management system D2L is much as possible. It was primarily used as a place to host resources for students, the dropbox location for assignment submission and the place for students to access their ongoing grades. The teams generally had a member who was technically savvy and was able to assist their team members to navigate both the blog and D2L so this required very little instruction on my part other than the detailed instructions that were given in the syllabus. We experienced some technical challenges preventing students from seeing their marks while we were grading their assignments using the D2L rubric tool. As well there were challenges with the grading schemes. It is my understanding that both of these problems will be resolved in the updated version of D2L which the University hopefully installs sooner rather than later! Students were frustrated with the lack of cohesive technology within the University as they had teachers using jump, Angel and D2L. This required students to navigate a variety of technologies which they found to be frustrating and time-consuming.

The results…

The students’ responses were generally very favorable - they admitted that their initial reaction to being expected to work in teams for the entire term was less than positive but they universally identified that this had been one of the richest learning experiences in their short time at University. They enjoyed the social nature of the learning environment. Students shared with me the friendships they made with other first-year students in the class as a result of the teamwork. Two girls even became BFFs! The students felt they learned the contents in more depth and it affirmed their desire to pursue the profession. As an instructor I was required to give students some multiple-choice tests. On the test as well as on the entire term marks there was a normal grade distribution. Interesting to me was that the attendance was fairly high throughout the term. Students shared that they felt uncomfortable not showing up to class as they could disadvantage their team. It was inevitable that some students would need to miss some classes but just like in the workplace they contacted their team members and notified them of their absence, made arrangements to participate in the team assignment for the week through email or text message or face-to-face meetings.

Changes for Next Time…

The next time I would teach a class like this I would make some changes. I would require students to give feedback to each other’s blog entries. I intended the blogs to be a universal learning tool. But I found that many team members did not read any blog other than their own. This was highly evident by their performance on the test questions that were taken directly from the blog contents. I believe it would also help the students be more accountable for the quality of their blog posts. I would keep the peer review process for team members. Students were unable to achieve top marks if their team had not completed all of the non-graded activities so this was an indirect motivator for completing the non-graded activities. I would likely keep the blog format although the same goal could be achieved using the discussion feature of D2L. I just prefer the clean look and navigability of the blog. I would like to increase the content and robustness of the resources in D2L and I’m pretty sure I will never lecture for an entire class ever again! And that is a pretty bold statement given how much I like to talk! If you are interested in learning more about any of these strategies do not hesitate to contact me at Eunice.Friesen@ad.umanitoba.ca.

CONVERSATIONSINNOVATOR ADVENTURER TRAILBLAZERPRESIDENT AND VICE-CHANCELLOR UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA

A SPEAKER SERIES HOSTED BY

DR. DAVID T. BARNARD

Engage with our experts as they share their perspectives on our education system and the research that shows why things must change.

OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SOLUTIONS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2013

Joycelyn Fournier-Gawryluk (Alumna)Past-President, Canadian Association of Principals

Marni BrownellAssociate Professor, Community Health Sciences/

Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Faculty of Medicine

Marlene AtleoAssociate Professor, Educational Administration,

Foundations and Psychology, Faculty of Education

Rodney Cli� onProfessor Emeritus, St. John’s College;

Senior Fellow, Frontier Centre for Public Policy

Robert B. Schultz Theatre, St. John’s College, Fort Garry Campus

Reception in Galleria – 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Panel Discussion – 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

RSVP at visionary.conversations@ad.umanitoba.caUMANITOBA.CA/VISIONARYCONVERSATIONS

JOIN THE CONVERSATION #UMVISIONARY

33Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

34

sprin

g 2013Teaching workshops

May 23 Developing Your Teaching Dossier

May 29 Maximizing Effect, Minimizing Load (Online Discussion Forums)

June 17 The Art of Questioning!

August 15 A Syllabus Students Will Read

August 21 Undergraduate Research Skills

Summer Institute

May 13-15 Reaching ALL Learners: Universal Instructional Design Summer Institute June 11-13 Desire2Learn: Your Course - Simplified!

For complete details and to register please go to: umanitoba.ca/uts

Centre for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning

10 Tech Tips You should definiTelY noT Miss!

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/04/10-tech-tips-you-should-definitely-not.html

In just a little more than 5 minutes you will find 10 simple and handy tips to use on your computer, on the web, your smartphone and camera. David Pogue presents aTED video providing tips to minimize time spent doing simple things online. Watch the video and remember to share it. Who knew??

35Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

sprin

g 2013

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning

INVITESall Instructors, Sessional Instructors

and Facultyto enter our

Annual Teaching Event

The Celebration of Teaching

All submissions will be entered for the prize draw to win:

an iPad®, an iPad Mini®, or a Microsoft Surface®

To Enter:Submit either a 250 word narrative

or a 1½ minute (max) video answering this question:

“In what way does your teaching foster student success?”

SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED: MAY 17, 2013Draw will be held at the ANNUAL UTS BBQ on June 7th

For more details please visit our website at:umanitoba.ca/uts

36

Sonja CarneyFaculty of Management ( Acct. & Finance)

What is IF*AT?

The IF-AT (Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique) provides an innovative answer form for multiple choice questions. It differs from the traditional bubble sheet

in that students receive immediate feedback on whether their answers are correct.

How did you learn about this assessment strategy?

I first heard of the IF-AT in 2009 at the Integrated Course Design for Significant Learning workshop sponsored by the Certified General Accountants Association of Manitoba. The workshop was offered by Dee Fink & Associates and led by Stewart Ross, PhD. Shortly afterwards the IF-AT was discussed in a seminar I attended at the CAAA Conference (an annual conference held by the Canadian Academic Accounting Association). In 2010 I began using the IF-AT in ACC 3040 Cost Accounting examinations (University of Manitoba).

How does the IF-AT work?

The IF-AT answer form resembles a “scratch and win” lottery ticket. For each multiple choice question, responses A to E are covered by a coating. Students scratch off the coating for their response. If the response is correct, a star is revealed. If a star is not revealed students know that their response is incorrect and have the opportunity to revise their answer and scratch off the coating for their next response until a star is revealed.

What benefits do you perceive the IF-AT to have for your accounting students?

The IF-AT transforms the testing process to include the learning process. Students receive immediate feedback on their responses, reinforcing correct responses. When responses are incorrect students are given the opportunity to learn how to derive the correct response during the actual examination process. Additionally, students do not leave the examination room with the false belief that their incorrect answers are correct. This is particularly important when final examinations are not returned to students.

Several research studies support the use of the IF-AT as an enhancement to the learning process. In Epstein, M. L.; Epstein, B.B.; Brosvic, G M. (2001) Immediate Feedback during Academic Testing. Psychology Reports, 88, 889 - 894, it was shown that 60% of errors made on earlier tests were answered correctly on subsequent tests when IF-AT forms were used on the earlier tests. When traditional bubble sheets were used on the earlier tests, only 30% of errors made on earlier tests were answered correctly on subsequent tests. The study also showed that when testing material for the first time the use of the IF-AT did not affect test scores as compared to the use of traditional bubble sheets. The study demonstrates that the benefit of using the IF-AT is in improving the retention of knowledge that was tested.

37Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

Students receive part marks for eventually determining the correct response, enhancing evaluation fairness. It is up to the instructor to determine the marking key. I use the version of IF-AT forms with answer options A to E (A to D is also available). The marking key that I typically use is summarized below:

Number of Responses Scratched until the Star is Revealed

Awarded Mark

1 2.002 1.003 0.754 0.505 0.00

The use of IF-AT forms allows me to include several questions based on one set of data without the possibility of students losing marks from carry-forward errors. I instruct students to complete questions based on one set of data in sequential order. This ensures that only correct responses are used to solve subsequent questions. This has allowed me to include more complex questions in the multiple-choice format which is easier to mark than long-answer formats.

What limitations do you experience using the IF-AT?

Students must be provided with additional time during the examination to rework their responses when their initial responses are incorrect. I use the IF-AT forms for the midterm and final examinations. The midterm examination is developed to be successfully completed in two hours, however, I allow my students three hours to complete the exam. An extra hour is also provided for completing the final exam, making it a four hour exam.

IF-AT forms are more expensive than traditional bubble sheets. The forms are available in 10, 25 and 50 question formats, each with the option of 4 or 5 answers. The forms can be purchased from Epstein Educational Enterprises (Epstein) and the cost of 500, 50-question, 5-answer forms is $110 US. I usually do not have more than 25 multiple choice questions on an examination and found it is significantly more economical to order one batch of 50-question forms than two batches of 25-answer forms. I cut the 50-answer forms, allowing me to use one form for more than one exam. For example, I may use questions 1 to 20 for the midterm examination, and questions 25 to 50 for the final examination.

A major downside is that the IF-AT forms must be manually graded, increasing the cost of marking.

Does the use of IF-AT forms increase the risk of cheating?

I return midterm examinations to my students, therefore, if I used the same IF-AT form in subsequent examinations students will know where the correct responses are. Epstein provides the IF-AT forms in many different correct response configurations. Each configuration has a unique code, displayed on the bottom of the IF-AT form. The code is torn off the form before the forms are given to students. When I order 500 forms, I usually order 4 batches of 125 forms. Each batch of forms will have a unique correct response configuration. I also let my students know that I use a different batch of forms for each examination, that way they know there is no point in memorizing where the correct responses are if they have access to old examinations.

There is always the risk of students looking at other students’ responses during examinations. This risk increases when IF-AT forms are used because now students will know with certainty which responses are correct. To mitigate this I ensure that students are spaced apart in the examination room so that they cannot read the IF-AT forms of nearby students. If I cannot space my students sufficiently apart, then I use two batches of IF-AT forms and alternate the forms in the seating plan. This requires me to prepare two versions of an exam; the questions are identical, but the placement of the correct responses differ to match up with the appropriate IF-AT form.

Does the use of IF-AT forms create more work for you when developing exams?

Not significantly. Prior to the start of each term I ensure that I have a sufficient quantity of batches of forms for my classes. I first prepare my examination as I would any other examination. I then select a batch of forms for my examination and reorder the correct responses to match up to the correct response configuration. At most, this may take an additional 10 minutes (assuming approximately 25 multiple choice questions).

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What are your students’ responses to the use of IF-AT forms?

I have not surveyed my students, however, every term a number of students have indicated that they like the IF-AT forms. Students like the positive feedback when their answers are correct - it is not unusual to hear an excited “Yes!” during an exam. The use of the IF-AT form also prevents students from second-guessing their initial responses. As instructors we have all marked papers where students changed their initial correct response to an incorrect response.

There is concern that students who suffer from exam anxiety may experience additional anxiety during the examination when they receive immediate feedback that their responses are incorrect. In one study, DiBattista, D.; Gosse, L. (2006)Test Anxiety and the IF-AT Method, The Journal of Experimental Education, 74, 311 - 327, it was concluded that there is no evidence that students with a higher level of anxiety were disadvantaged with respect to test scores when IF-AT forms were used. It also showed that the use of IF-AT forms did not increase exam anxiety, in fact, it actually reduced it. I like to address this issue with my students one or two weeks before the examination. I tell them that if they believe they are prone to exam anxiety, they should complete the multiple choice questions last. I also advise them to complete all the multiple choice questions without scratching any responses on the IF-AT form. Once all questions have been completed they should then scratch their responses on the IF-AT form in sequential order. This ensures that students are able to calmly work on all questions before panic may set in.

Is the IF-AT used exclusively in the examination process?

No, although I only use IF-AT forms on examinations, there are additional applications. The forms can be used for in-class tests and for team-based learning or cooperative learning exercises.

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39Path to Pedagogy | Volume 21 – No 3

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June 12, 2013Understanding the Impact

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