Innovative Course Design Workshop III: High-impact Strategies (Recap)

Facilitator: Julia K. Metzker
Date: 10 Nov 17, 2:30-4pm
Topic: High-impact Strategies: Developing inclusive assignments and activities that challenge

Workshop Goals

You will …

  • explore evidence base for high-impact practices and teaching strategies.
  • design transparent activities and/or assignments.

Participants in the third workshop in a five-part course design series, explored evidence based strategies for designing assignments and activities that have high-impact on learners.

<<download the handouts or review the presentation>>

NOTE: The concepts in this series will build over each workshop.  The prezi will also evolve as we move through the series.

Life in College Matters for Life After College (2014)
This Gallup-Purdue study of college graduates finds the type of school these graduates attended matters less to their work lives and current well-being than their experiences while in school.

Check-in …

We started with a round-robin check-in to gauge success and challenges faced in the course (re)design process thus far.  The list of resources below came up in that conversation.

Best practices in service-learning/community-based learning.  There are a ton of resources if you are interested in incorporating community-based learning in your course.  To get you started …
Using course portfolios to document your teaching
  • Bernstein, D. (2006). Making teaching and learning visible : course portfolios and the peer review of teaching. Anker Pub. Co.
  • Kite, M. E. (2012). Effective Evaluation of Teaching: A Guide for Faculty and Administrators. (check out p71-78)
  • A guide for preparing course portfolios at the Eberly Center (Carnegie Mellon University)
  • Sample course portfolios at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Reading Strategies

Learn …

Resources from workshop:

  • High-Impact Educational Practices—ways of engaging and challenging students—such as first year programs; intensive writing, collaborative assignments, undergraduate research, internships, and major projects that help students achieve essential learning outcomes
  • Visible Learning (HATTIE, 2009) – “Visible Learning means an enhanced role for teachers as they become evaluators of their own teaching. According to John Hattie Visible Learning and Teaching occurs when teachers see learning through the eyes of students and help them become their own teachers. In his meta-analysis of over 800 meta- analyses, Hattie identifies the interventions with the highest rate of return for student success.
  • Transparency in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (TILT-HIgherEd) – The Transparency in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education project (TILT Higher Ed) is a national educational development and research project that helps faculty implement a transparent teaching framework that promotes college students’ success. Transparent teaching methods help students understand how and why they are learning course content in particular ways. Housed at UNLV, the project invites participants from all institutions of higher education in the US and abroad. Any instructor may join the project by signing up online.
  • Kuh, G. D. (2009). High-Impact Educational Practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, D.C.

Practice …

Before the next workshop …

  1. describe an assignment to a colleague or friend not familiar with your course/discipline.  Ask them to identify the purpose, task and criteria for the assignment from the perspective of a novice. (see details in handouts)
  2.  Literature Jigsaw with Focused Questions (see below)

Literature Jigsaw with Focused Questions

Reading assignments (#’s assigned in email)

#1: Flaherty, C. (2017). Large-Scale Assessment Without Standardized Tests. Inside HigherEd, pp. 1–5.

#2: Pascarella, E. T., & Blaich, C. (2013). Lessons from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(2), 6–15.  (Read pages 2-9)

#3: Alby, C. J. (2012). A summary of Hattie’s Research on Learning.

#4: Winkelmes, M.-A., Bernacki, M., Butler, J., Zochowski, M., Golanics, J., & Weavil, K. H. (2016). A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved College Students’ Success . Peer Review, 18(1/2), 31–36.

Questions to guide your reading:
  1. Briefly summarize the work
  2. What was the main takeaway?
  3. What methods were used to collect the evidence?
  4. How confident are you in the conclusions?
  5. What does this research tell you about student learning?
  6. How might you use this information in your own teaching?

Happy Reading!

2 thoughts on “Innovative Course Design Workshop III: High-impact Strategies (Recap)”

  1. Pingback: Innovative Course Design for 21st Century Transformative Learning: Sign-up Now! | Stetson Faculty Blog

  2. Pingback: Authentic Assessment: Innovative Course-building Workshop on December 8 | Brown Center Blog

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