Journal Entry Eleven: Final reflections

How do I begin to describe my two months studying in this course? I came to this course without clear expectations, excited and nervous about my having an opportunity to plan and design formative and summative evaluation methods.
From the online partner interview to the final summative project, I was blessed enough to be supervised by a great teacher who appreciated and encouraged me all the way through this course. Through my conversations with her and her assistant, I have a clearer impression about what it’s like to teach an online class. Now, as I look back on my experience, I am filled with an appreciation for the priceless lessons in assessment and evaluation and their effects on the learning process.
In closing, I would like to extend my gratitude to all my classmates who have given me a hand during my master studies. Every encouragement, help, advice and support from you does play a significant role on my development. I can now move forward in my quest to become an online instructor, with a newfound confidence and wisdom. Thank You!

Journal Entry: Ten

As the class comes to a close, we faced the challenge of completing 3 activities for this module. The first activity involved the submission of the final project. The final project for the course was based on the dimension of assessment tools relating to a mock online course that was created solely for this project. We had to select and analyze the benefits, application of 4 assessment tools. In our analysis of these tools, we also had to incorporate Benjamin’s Bloom’s (1960) dimensions of knowledge ((cognitive learning, behavior/skills, and attitudes/values) into the final project. Lastly, we were instructed to examine the effects of plagiarism on the learning outcomes of the mock online course. The second activity of this module relates to the completion of a rubric of self-assessment relating to the final project. The third activity involved the discussion topics that were generated from the selected reading materials. My final project is available at this link: http://www.freewebs.com/chris-martin/Jigsaw%20Final%20Project.pdf

Dimensions of Assessment
Outcomes assessment of student learning, the effectiveness of a department’s curriculum, and teaching effectiveness can be accomplished by measuring Benjamin Bloom’s (1960) dimensions of knowledge (cognitive learning, behavior/skills, and ttitudes/values). Measures of Cognitive Learning: Knowledge. These measures can be either course-specific or focused upon major or discipline, and can include:

•Knowledge – questions are designed to ask what, when, where, and who. Knowledge of facts, definitions, terms are typical of memory items. A typical question would be: "Define social psychology.” It is highly unlikely that this would be used as an outcome measure of student learning as questions which test knowledge typically only require rote memorization rather than actual learning.

•Comprehension - This is the lowest level of learning and understanding. It involves students’ ability to translate information into their own words. A typical question would be: "Explain the rhetoric of identification in your own words."

•Application – In this level students are asked to apply their knowledge to different situations and in different contexts. Students are expected to abstract information learned and apply it to daily life. A typical question: "Name the three stages of perception checking and explain how perception checking can improve our ability to communicate."

•Analysis – Analysis questions ask students to analyze, compare and contrast relationships between things. For example, "How are the theories of social comparison and psychological centrality similar? How are they different?"

•Synthesis – Here students are asked to pull together parts and elements to form a whole. A typical question might be: "How do you explain the phrase, `You don't communicate to someone, you engage in communication with them?'"

•Evaluation – Evaluation is considered to be the highest level of student learning, as students are asked to make judgments about the value of the material presented. A typical question would be: "Explain, in detail, why you think that the transaction model is an appropriate/inappropriate representation of the communication process."

Source: The University of Montana http://www.umt.edu/provost/assessment/default.htm

Journal Entry Nine: Cybercoaching

Module Six exposed the class to a model of online formative assessment known as cybercoaching. The cybercoaching model is a form of assessment that depends on the personal relationship that exists between the student and the instructor, in order to monitor the student’s progress with the idea of providing feedback for improvement.

The assigned readings for this module included:

Peterson, N. (2005). "Cybercoaching: Rubrics, Feedback and Metacognition, Oh My!" E.C.Moore Symposium, February 25, 2005

Finding a Place for Everyone: Online Course Development for Internship with an Online Media Source Uniting Multiple-Sensory Engagement of Learning in a Larger Community, By Datta Kaur Khalsa, Masters of Education Project, May, 2001.

Studying the First Amendment: Exploring Truth in Journalism by Christine Casey , Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts

The class discussion involved a comparison of the article by Dr. Khalsa and Ms. Casey to analyze and contrast the recommended assessment techniques from Casey's journalism class to those used in the Khalsa journalism class.

The assigned activities for this module included creating a precourse survey to help personalize an online course to the learning needs of the students. Here is the link to my precourse survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=dt17Uq8AddgUXM8YSvfcfw_3d_3d

Journal Entry Eight: Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy is comprised of 6 categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The taxonomy is a classification scheme of intellectual behavior and was developed by Benjamin Bloom. Bloom identified six levels of cognitive learning, from the simple recall of facts (Knowledge), as the lowest level, through the increasingly more complex levels of Understanding, Application, Analysis, Synthesis,and Evaluation.
Module Five presented us with the opportunity to create a simplified version of Bloom’s taxonomy to determine learning objectives that are associated with assessment. After reading an assigned case study, we each had to place the assessment activities from that case study in a table and match 3-4 assessment activities to one of the six categories of Bloom’s taxonomy.

Bloom categories

Learning objective verbs
Activity

Knowledge
(recall, list, define, identify, collect, label)
Define
Define basic journalism terms.

Comprehension
(summarize, describe interpret, predict, discuss)
Identify
Identify news items that may be propaganda.

Application
(apply, demonstrate, illustrate, classify, experiment, discover)
Explore
Explore the role of the journalist in obtaining and telling the news.

Analysis
(analyze, classify, connect, explain, infer)
Understand
A field trip would allow students to view a film that appears to be slanted, such as Fahrenheit 9/11, and discuss the film in conjunction with understanding libel, privacy, ethics and taste.

Synthesis
(combine, integrate, plan, create, design, formulate)
Compose
Make oral presentations for each academic area of study that are designed to persuade, inform or describe.

Evaluation
(assess, recommend, convince, compare, conclude, summarize)
Convince
Students will write a persuasive essay supporting or rebutting her theories.

The final project looms on the horizon. It is due by November 9th and was designed to extend the Jigsaw project. As such,it is intended to be a group project. Updates will be provided on a weekly basis.


Happy Halloween!

Journal Entry Seven: Putting It All Together

Jigsaw Midterm Project

In this section, we begin with an introduction to four categories of assessment tools:
1. Quiz and Test Builders
2. Reflection Assessment Tools
3. Peer to Peer Collaboration Tools
4. Course Tracking Tools
In order to combine the four separate categories of this project into one discernible narrative, the team employed the use of a cooperative learning lesson design called Jigsaw. The concept of Jigsaw is based on the assumption that each member has a piece of information that can be used to advance the knowledge of the team as a whole, and thus will contribute to a better understanding of the material by all. With this thought in mind, each team member selected one area of the assignment and conjoined their findings into a united document that will be submitted in the form of a team assessment toolbox. As it was, team member Diane Reinfeldt chose to focus her research efforts on category one, while team member Rorey Pritchard selected category two for her individual research project. The two remaining team members, Gail Nichols and Chris Martin, each conducted individual learning discoveries that were related to categories three and four respectively. Through practice and inquiry, we each sought to find bridges between the four equally divided categories of assessment tools. Now as the deadline draws near for submitting the fruits of our labor, we shall treasure this learning experience as well as the individual lessons that were learned during the course of completing this assignment, because we found a way to put it all together.This is called teamwork. To view the project online, paste this link in your browser: http://writer.zoho.com/public/northwoods1111/Jigsaw-Midterm-Group-43/scrip

Journal Entry Six: Confessions of an e-dummy

Today is Saturday and the close of Module 3. But before we go, I'd like to address a question that was posed by Datta,"How did you know that you would be successful in an online course?" Well, when I initially started studying for my undergraduate degree, I wasn't sure if online classes would help me succeed. But as I ventured further into the distant learning process, I grew more confident in my abilities to be a successful student. To answer Datta's question directly, I don't think anyone can tell how successful they'll be with online learning, until they jump in and give it a try.

As for the discussions surrounding Dr. Bonk's article about the convergence of the Perfect e-storm, we all had different opinions on the benefits and disadvantages of this phenomenom. I can sum up one advantage with a saying that is used by realtors across America, "location,location,location." So how is this saying related to the Pefect e-storm? Well, the Perfect e-storm has totally eliminated the word 'location' from the distant learning equation, by making it possible for students to study anywhere, at anytime. Now, the only 'location' that really matters is the 'location' of the main campus where the distant learning courses are being offered. For sure, there has to be a physical 'location' for the main campus, or we could end up taking online courses from some place in a trailer park. What a tragedy that would be.On the other hand, the Perfect e-storm may have presented perfect e-headaches for financial aid officers everywhere, as they had to quickly develop new formulas for figuring how to meet the needs of the distant learner. Until next time, be good and drive safely.

Journal Entry Five: A new day awaits me

As another week draws to a close, I now take time to pause and reflect on the information that was covered in this module. The first activity was centered on the creation of a concept map. Concept mapping is identifying key concepts in a body of subject matter and arranging those concepts around a focal concept. It also involves linking the selected concepts by lines and labeling them to show meaningful relationships between and among them. A personal grasp of these relationships between and among concepts is supposed to portray meaningful learning. Once acquired, concept mapping skills are useful for organizing information, reading and studying and preparing an assignment, paper or report. As I completed my concept map, I couldn’t help but think back to the time when I worked in the computer industry. This is where I encountered a diagram known as a flow chart. A flow chart is a graphical or symbolic representation of a process. Each step in the process is represented by a different symbol and contains a short description of the process step. The flow chart symbols are linked together with arrows showing the process flow direction. They were used exclusively by computer programmers as these diagrams provided an insider’s view of how a computer program performs its intended purpose.

The required readings for this module included an article, Perfect E-Storm: emerging technology, enormous learner demand, enhanced pedagogy, and erased budgets by Dr. Curtis J. Bonk. Although it was written in 2004, the article provided us with some food for thought, as Dr. Bonk discussed among other things, how technology, the needs of learners and the art of teaching all have converged to create the perfect e-storm. He notes that all of these elements when combined will serve to enrich and expand the horizons of the distant learning landscape in an unprecedented manner. However, after touting the benefits that will occur as a result of this melding of distant learning components, Dr. Bonk concludes that many universities and colleges still face a pressing need to create exciting and relevant online materials that will engage and motivate the online learner. While I wouldn’t use the word 'storm' to describe the events that have transpired in the area of distant learning over the past ten years, I do see where there has been substantial growth in this area of the educational paradigm. This growth may be due more to the fact that the development of new technology is often accompanied by new ideas and methods concerning how best to use the new technology. For as the old aphorism states, “A rising tide lifts all the boats.” Until next time, stay healthy and be good to yourself.