Integrating Technology
When Teaching
Large Classes
Wendy L. Keeney-Kennicutt
Associate Director, First Year Chemistry Program
Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence
Texas A&M University
K-keeney@tamu.edu
2010
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Technologies I Use

Web assessments for student feedback

Email

Excel Spreadsheet

Ebook, e-solution manual and e-homework

Class Websites – public and private

Calibrated Peer Review – on-line writing/reviewing

Turnitin

Clickers

Office hours/review sessions in Second Life
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My Background

Taught first year chemistry at TAMU since 1984
– Off sequence students for >10 years

Class size: 2 classes of 230-300 students each

Always had excellent student evaluations, university
teaching awards, but…

I was unhappy with rigidity of class structure, felt I
wasn’t serving my students…

What could I do? I used technology to…….
ASK THEM! LISTEN! BE CREATIVE!
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Tools for Student
Feedback
 SALG (Student Assessment of Learning Gains)
– Updated website: www.salgsite.org
– Free & easy assessment tool
 Myers Briggs/Kiersey Temperment Sorter/Jung Typology
Test (output – 4 letters e.g. INTJ)
– Free quiz: www.humanmetrics.com/
 Learning Style Test (VARK)
– Free quiz: www.vark-learn.com/
– Provides learning styles (Visual, Aural, Read/Write,
Kinesthetic) with hints for students
2010
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SALG (www.salgsite.org)



Developed in 1997 for undergraduate chemistry courses –
funded by NSF, then revised in 2007
focuses exclusively on the degree to which a course has
enabled student learning
asks students to assess/report on own learning:
1. How much of the following aspects of the course helped you in your
learning?
2. As a result of your work in this class
a. What gains did you make in your understanding of …
b. What gains did you make in the following skills …
c. What gains did you make in the following attitudinal changes …
d. What gains did you make in integrating the following …
2010
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SALG
Benefits
 Free and easy to use and modify
 Can add questions, including demographics
− I’ve used this for many semesters for classroom research
 Provides easy-to-read output
 Provides raw numeric data for your own correlations
 Students can log in with their name so credit can be given
 SALG dissociates names from responses to ensure anonymity
How do I incorporate it?
 worth 5 points on their final exam (~95% compliance)
What do I get out of it?
 Reliable, consistent information from my class over time
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Personality Test
Jung Typology Test
 free
 students like it
− can understand words
− results usually agree
with self-assessment
(72 questions)
How do I incorporate it?
 worth a quiz grade (3 pts)
 students email me their results and comments
− encourages students to email me; I respond
− tells students that communication is important to me
What do I get out of it?
 data on learning styles (next slide) – I share with the class
 reminder to me that class is heterogeneous in how they learn
2010
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Personality Test
Four Learning Styles:
 NT: interested in principles and logic, enjoy developing own ideas,
like technology, do not enjoy meaningless assignments
 NF: need acceptance, caring and support, enjoy group activities,
prefer cooperation over competition, learn best face-to-face
 SP: value physical involvement and activity in the learning process,
are free-spirited and resourceful, may be restless in class
 SJ: value responsibility, dependability, conformity, prefer structure
in the classroom, like and need organization & a schedule
Normal Pop.:
NT = 13% SP = 38% NF = 13%
My Class (F07): NT = 23% SP = 7% NF = 26%
2010
SJ = 38%
SJ = 44%
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VARK
What is VARK?
 a 16 question quiz providing users with profile of learning preferences
− the ways that they want to take-in and give-out information.
− Visual vs. Aural vs. Reading/Writing vs. Kinesthetic
− Remember, preferences are not the same as strengths
 developed by Neil Fleming, Lincoln University, New Zealand
 one can choose more than one answer to a question:
Kinesthetic
Read/Write
Aural
Visual
My Fall 2007 class:
− 67% are multimodal learners (VARK), but what about the rest?
2010
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VARK
My Fall 2007 Class (N=425 responses):
 Represents 100% of the students who took the final exam
 Although 67% of the students have no preference for
learning modality (VARK),
Learning
Preference
N
Learning
Preference
N
V
A
R
K
VA
VR
VK
9
13
25
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2
5
9
AK
RK
VAR
VAK
VRK
VARK
10
3
1
16
9
286
2010
 79% like Visual
 79% like Aural
 80% like Read/Write
 87% like Kinesthetic
Where does
that leave us as
instructors?
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Technology helps us meet
student needs.
My Syllabus:
 Exams 1, 2, 3 - 100 pts each (80% MC)
– Each has makeup 10 days later (0% MC) and any reason works
 “Exam 4” – average of best 3 scores of 3 exams and 3 writing
assignments (Calibrated Peer ReviewTM) – 100 pts
 Ebook includes on-line homework (OWL) – 20 or 100 pts
– Individual student choice
 Written homework – 0,1,2 pts added to final average
– All HW due next class period after exams;
– 10% penalty when done by makeup exam
 In-class quizzes – best 20/25+ – 30 pts (mostly with clickers)
– Open book, open notes, talk to your neighbors
 Final Exam – 170 pts (150 pts MC)
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More on Exams
I give partial credit on multiple choice part!
 Each question is really 2 questions. For example:
 The entire question is worth 5 points
– Question 1 is 3 pts and Question 2 is 2 points
 If the student is sure of the answer, he/she bubbles the same
answer twice for the full 5 points
 Students who narrow the choice to two answers can split.
C is correct, so if they put C for (1) and D for (2), they would get 3 points.
2010
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Technologies I Use

Web assessments for student feedback

Email

Excel Spreadsheet

Ebook, e-solution manual and e-homework

Class Websites – public and private

Calibrated Peer Review – on-line writing/reviewing

Turnitin

Clickers

Office hours/review sessions in Second Life
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Technology is Your Ally!
Details:
 Web evaluations & personality tests
 Email & MS Excel (Grades and Grade Calculator)
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Technology is Your Ally!
 Ebook
–
–
–
–
Hardcopy is optional
Comes with on-line homework (OWL) and solution manual
Cost: $45/semester
Due to lower book costs, we can ask students to buy clickers
– With $$ for graders decreasing and university costs increasing,
ebooks are the future
2010
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Technology is Your Ally!
 Two websites – public and at elearning.tamu.edu
 Public - www.chem.tamu.edu/class/fyp/wkk-chem.html
–
–
–
–
–
–

Info source – syllabus, office hours, handouts, HW assignments
Course notes, learning objectives, old exams, Camtasia videos
Links to all technology websites we use
Powerpoint: “How to do well in First Year Chemistry”
Math Skills Review selected as NSTA SciLinks
Links to other chemistry/science-related sites
Elearning website
–
–
–
–
Link to my public webpage
Link to register clicker
Link to Turnitin for my writing assignments (Calibrated Peer Review)
Grades
2010
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Technology is Your Ally!
 Calibrated Peer Review (CPRTM) – cpr.tamu.edu
–
–
–
–
–

Read FAQs on website for more info
Free online writing/peer assessing tool
Sits on TAMU server (meets FERPA Guidelines)
I’m the TAMU Master Administrator
Used by >25,000 students at TAMU in last 7 years in 30+ majors
How does it work?
– The students write an assignment as per detailed instructions
– They pass a calibration step, where they learn to recognize and rank 3 essays
of different quality on the same topic (instructor provides these essays)
– Your students anonymously critique 3 of their peers’ essays and their own
work
– You (the instructor) can see all grades and can change if necessary
2010
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Technology is Your Ally!
 Turnitin thru elearning.tamu.edu – for CPR assignments
– Plagiarism control
– Students check their own work before submitting to CPR
– I spot check to see if they actually turned in their CPR essay
 Clicker quizzes
– Used daily to promote learning and attendance
– Open book, open notes, talk to your neighbor
 Student learn more when they teach someone else
– Test on topics taught that day
– Students get instant feedback
– Low stakes assessment
– Take time
 Must allow students to log into the system
 Must give them time to figure out problem
 Must allow students send in their answer.
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More on Clickers
 Survey Results of 322 Students from My Classes - Fall 2009
Disagree,
4.7
Neutral,
12.4
Strongly
disagree,
2.8
Strongly
agree, 30.4
Strongly
agree
Agree
Strongly
disagree
5.1
Disagree
13.2
Strongly
agree,
15.0
Neutral
Agree, 49.7
Disagree
Neutral,
29.1
Agree,
37.5
Strongly
disagree
Clickers helped me
pay attention and
learn in class.
I think the clickers
made the class be
more enjoyable.
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Second Life at TAMU
Aggieland Island and 12th Man Island
 Virtual persistent 3-D world
Amphitheater
Bonfire
Memorial
Dr. K’s Chemistry
Place
Classrooms
Bolton Hall
Train
Depot
Academic
Bldg
Cushing
Library
Clock
Tower
Seasonal
Activity
Area
MSC
Nagle Hall
Sul Ross Statue
SL Orientation
Aggie Beach
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Second Life at TAMU
Dr. K’s Chemistry Place - Overview
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Second Life at TAMU
Dr. K’s Chemistry Place – Classroom Area
Clicker
System
Movie Screen
Streaming Desktop
Blackboard
Notice Board
Quiz
System
Seats that allow students to raise their hands
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Second Life at TAMU
Dr. K’s Chemistry Place – Quizzes
 Obelisk Quiz
− 4 choices
− if pick correctly,
get 4 more choices
 MC Quiz
 Both can be done by
students on their own
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Technology is Your Ally!
 Second Life
– Office hour/review session/SL activity for 1 quiz grade
– Cannot be mandatory – there is a population density problem
 An island can only handle about 50 people; I have 550 students
– A way to reach technically-savvy students
– More personal than email or telephone
– Can work with groups at a distance
– No need for students to come to campus

SL Issues
– Technology
– Lack of student computer literacy
Technology Caveat: you must spend time
inside/outside class to help with tech learning curves.
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Tech Learning Curve
Percent of Students
Who Agree or Strongly Agree
 Data on Calibrated Peer Review study
80
Fall 2002
70
60
Spring 2003
50
Spring 2004
40
Fall 2004
30
Spring 2005
20
Fall 2005
10
Spring 2006
0
CPR is
Enjoyable
Helps us Learn
Chemistry
Helps Improve
Writing
Helps Improve
Critiquing
Others Should
Do CPR
Survey Questions
“Overcoming Student Resistance to a Teaching Innovation” by
Wendy Keeney-Kennicutt, Baris Gunersel and Nancy Simpson.
http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/issue_v2n1.htm
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But you are not tied to
technology!
Examples from my class:
 My lectures are not powerpoint
– I have 3 overhead projectors
– I write/talk at the same time
 My notes are handwritten
– Available on the public website and at Copy Corner
– I tack $1 onto Copy Corner notes to support the Chemistry Road Show
 Student notecard with picture
– Counts as a quiz grade
– Includes hometown, chemistry background etc. plus something special
– My opportunity to share my background
 Written homework from the textbook (counted, not graded)
 Paper quizzes
– See student thought processes
2010
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The personal touch!
Examples from my class:
 Weekly review sessions – Sundays at 2pm – in real life
–
–
–
–

Review the week’s work
Answer queries
Give more examples at a slower pace
Why?
 I teach an off-sequence course
 Student chemistry backgrounds are very non-homogeneous
 I was bored with answering the same questions over and over
 Some students are too shy to ask questions
Weekly review sessions – Sundays at 5pm – in Second Life
– For students who like that technology and cannot make it to campus
– Students and I can speak using microphone or chat via our avatars

Office hours – my office is in back of Chemistry Help Desk area
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Benefits of Technology
for Me
 Allows me to meet needs of different learning styles
 Allows students to design their own course assessments

(within reason)
Gives me more time to spend doing fun activities with my
students
−Clickers are amazing time-savers (no grading/alphabetizing/recording)
 Learning environment is converted from teacher-centered to
student-centered.
 Allows me to be imaginative in my syllabus and stay true to
my teaching style.
Think about choosing another
fun tech method for your classes!
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