14th Annual
Conference Abstracts
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA
Thursday, March 24th, 2016
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Conference Schedule
Time
Event
8:00am to 12:00pm
Registration (Atrium)
9:00am to 9:10am
Opening Remarks - President John Fry (PISB 120)
9:10am to 10:10am
Keynote - Jeff Selingo (PISB 120)
Session 1
PISB 104
10:15am to 11:00am
Open Textbooks - The
Presentation Your
Publisher Rep Doesn’t
Want You to Hear
PISB 106
PISB 108
Online Exams & Academic Integrity: How
to Reduce the Risk of
Cheating
How to compete
with cat videos that
your students are
watching
PISB 120
Mixing it Up! How
Interactive Online
Presentations Can
Enhance Both
On-Campus and
Online Courses
Session 2
PISB 104
11:15am to 12:00pm
Mobile App for Maternal and Child Health
Field Experiences and
Cultural Competency
Training
PISB 106
PISB 108
The Power of Practice: Teaching Real-World Skills Online
PISB 120
InterdisciplinAn Onboarding
ary postdoctoral
Strategy for New
training on e-learn- Online Learners
ing strategies for
biomedical science
educators
Lunch
12:00pm to 1:45pm
Session 3
PISB 104
1:45pm to 2:30pm
21st Century Skills &
Brain Targeted Teaching: Re-Examining
Online Education
PISB 106
PISB 108
From a brick and
mortar classroom to
online biomedical science curriculum: The
odyssey of a Master of
Science bacteriology
course
Conducting Student Focus Groups
to Assess the Use
of Academic Technologies
PISB 120
Using the JAWS
Screen Reader to
Demonstrate how
Blind Students
Encounter and
Use online Course
Content
Afternoon Break (Atrium)
2:30pm to 3:00pm
Session 4
3:00pm to 3:45pm
PISB 104
PISB 106
Increasing Student Engagement Using Turn
It In and Visual Presentations
A graduate-level writing course/experience
built in Blackboard
PISB 108
Lights, Camera,
Blackboard - Increasing Engagement with Video
and Multimedia
PISB 120
Making your Presence Known: Strategic use of video in
online courses
3:45pm to 4:00pm
Closing Remarks and Door Prize Drawing (Atrium)
4:00pm to 6:00pm
Collaboratory (Atrium)
2016 Sponsors
Keynote Address
9:00am to 10:00am
Keynote Address
Jeff Selingo
PISB 120
Jeff Selingo is a best-selling author and award-winning columnist who helps
parents and higher-education leaders imagine the college and university of the
future and how to succeed in a fast-changing economy.
He is the former top editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education, where he
worked for 16 years in a variety of reporting and editing roles. His writing has
also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate.
Jeff’s 3rd book, due out in April, is entitled: There Is Life After College: Navigating Your Time in School So You Are Prepared for the Jobs of Tomorrow. Jeff will
be signing dozens of copies for us - which will become post-conference prizes for
some lucky attendees.
He also authored:
- College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students
- MOOC U: Who Is Getting the Most Out of Online Education and Why
Always a compelling and engaging speaker, Jeff’s forward-looking messages about the higher ed space are certain to be something you absolutely do not want to miss.
http://www.jeffselingo.com/about/
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Session 1 Abstracts
10:15am to 11:00am
Open Textbooks - The Presentation Your Publisher Rep Doesn’t Want You to Hear
Beth Ten Have, Alan Hecht
PISB 104
It is estimated that the average college student spends over $1,000 per year in course textbooks… except they
don’t. While some students look for used texts at lower costs, surveys indicate that about 65% of students skip
purchasing textbooks altogether because of high costs or because they know they won’t read them anyway. This
means that 2/3 of your class isn’t getting the information you assume they’re gleaning from the assigned readings, and that directly impacts student comprehension and performance.
Open textbook initiatives attempt to make free, quality textbook resources available for adoption in courses on
common topics, and the list is growing. This puts textbooks into the hands of many students who couldn’t otherwise afford them. Plus, many open textbooks allow updating and editing by others, so faculty members can
create their own edition of the book and still distribute it for free to their students.
This session will explore the potential for and trends in open textbooks as well as practical ideas for their use in
higher education. The challenges of adopting open textbooks will be examined and numerous sources for open
textbooks and other open educational resources (OER) will be presented.
Online Exams & Academic Integrity: How to Reduce the Risk of Cheating
Maggie Regan, Rosalie Kreider, JD
PISB 106
Online courses give students the opportunity to learn anytime, anywhere. This creates a challenge with one of
the key components in a course - assessments. Online exams have made it harder for instructors to monitor
who is actually taking the exam and easier for students to cheat. When students take an exam online they can be
tempted to ask a friend for help or Google the answers.
This past year, Drexel’s LeBow College of Business has been using a tool to monitor students’ testing environment to prevent cheating. The tool uses a webcam to record a student’s exam session. In addition to using this
tool we have tried other strategies including setting time limits, utilizing test banks, and randomizing questions.
By putting these safeguards in place, cheating has been minimized.
In this session, participants will review the challenges of the online testing environment and strategies for overcoming them. Examples of the technology utilized will also be shown.
How to Compete with Cat Videos That Your Students Are Watching
Amanda Golasa, Larissa Mogano
PISB 108
Whether you are teaching an online, hybrid, face to face course, or just want to record an event, this topic is for
you. This session will start with video best practices and then demonstrate examples of both synchronous and
asynchronous uses of video. From lighting to sound, this session will help you get your video right every time.
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Session 1 Abstracts (Continued)
10:15am to 11:00am
Even if you or your institution do not have a state of the art studio for video recordings, producing high quality
videos is still possible.
This session will demonstrate what high quality video lectures and live streaming look like at Drexel University.
Keeping students engaged every week with lecture videos or live stream is not always an easy task. But this session aims to make that a little easier.
Mixing it Up! How Interactive Online Presentations can Enhance both On-Campus and
Online Courses
Valentina DeNardis
PISB 120
This presentation will demonstrate how two types of interactive software, Articulate Storyline and Microsoft Office Mix, can be used to benefit both flipped on-campus classes and online courses. The speaker will first explain
how she turned two traditional courses into (1) a flipped on-campus course and (2) a completely online course,
and how these new formats enhance student learning. The speaker will then show how, in both of these formats,
interactive e-learning presentations help students master a large amount of background material in order to
work more effectively in other areas of a course. The two courses the speaker will focus on, a flipped on-campus
Latin language course and an online classical art and culture course, require understanding of background information in Greek and Roman mythology. The speaker will share samples of the “mythology learning modules”
created for both of these courses which (1) give Latin students a background in mythological stories to have a
more productive class when translating Latin texts and (2) provide classical culture students with an efficient
way to gain a working knowledge of the mythological characters they will be analyzing in art and culture. In
addition to sharing some of her finished “mythology learning modules,” the speaker will demonstrate how to use
different features of Articulate Storyline and Microsoft Office Mix to create an interactive e-learning presentation, pointing out the advantages of each of the two programs, and how each program can enhance the learning
experience of students in both flipped and online courses.
Session 2 Abstracts
11:15am to 12:00pm
Mobile App for Maternal and Child Health Field Experiences and Cultural Competency
Training
Ray Lum, Renee Davis
PISB 104
The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate the development strategy of a mobile application (app) used for
the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program at the Dornsife School Public Health. The app will foster collaborative learning related to student field experiences and cultural/linguistic competency. A recent National
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Session 2 Abstracts (Continued)
11:15am to 12:00pm
Center of Cultural Competence survey of MCH Training Programs identified a need for instructional materials,
curricula, model programs, and multimedia products specific to MCH and cultural/linguistic competency training. As a result, the app was funded through an Innovative Teaching Award from the Association of Teachers of
Maternal and Child Health.
The innovation of this project is the design of a mobile application developed by the Drexel University Online
team with MCH faculty guidance for classroom education. The presentation shows how the app promotes collaborative learning among students related to MCH and cultural/linguistic competency activities and experiences.
Features of the app include student responses to (1) cultural competency case studies from the NCCC module
training series, (2) links and reflection on the MCH Navigator MCH Leadership self-assessment tool, and (3)
student reflections and peer to peer communication related to field experience sites.
The evaluation criteria of the mobile app is noted below:
•Relevance: App focus has a strong connection to app purpose & is appropriate for student
•Engagement: Student is highly motivated to use the app
•User Friendly Instructions: App is easy to learn/use, directions are clear/simple to follow
•Sharing: Specific performance summary or student product is saved in app and can be exported to the
teacher or for a broader audience
•Feedback: Student is provided specific feedback
•Customization: App offers flexibility to alter content and settings to meet student needs
The mobile app and its evaluation will be shared among other MCH programs to develop innovative field experiences and cultural/linguistic competencies.
The Power of Practice: Teaching Real-World Skills Online
Morgan Loewith, Dr. Cathy Littlefield
PISB 106
With online and blended courses growing at a rapid pace, opportunities for students to practice real-world skills
and interact with each other are few and far between. Determined to provide her students with active learning
opportunities to help them hone and develop skills within a community of their peers, Dr. Cathy Littlefield, Associate Professor, Organizational Leadership & Management at Peirce College, saw an opportunity with ApprenNet. For the last two years, Dr. Littlefield has used ApprenNet’s video and mobile-based solution to provide her
online students ways to build skills through frequent practice, peer interactivity, self reflection, and coaching.
This session highlights how one early adopter uses ApprenNet in her courses to help her students improve their
real-world skills. Learn how you can replicate the magic of a live classroom experience in an online world.
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Session 2 Abstracts (Continued)
11:15am to 12:00pm
Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Training on e-Learning Strategies for Biomedical Science
Educators
Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann, MD, PhD, MBA
PISB 108
Graduate programs in biomedical sciences are still primarily taught in a traditional, lecture-based format. Blended courses and flipped classrooms are not broadly used, and fully online curricula are rare in this area of graduate
education. Developing online and blended curriculum in the biomedical sciences can be challenging due to limitations in the knowledge and training of scientists in the area of instructional design, best practices and trends
in pedagogy, digital literacy (e.g., evolving learning management systems), and other e-learning technologies. A
significant challenge for some science faculty is to understand how all of these apply to teaching complex scientific concepts and skills to graduate students. This should come as no surprise since graduate and post-graduate
programs in biomedical fields typically focus on training scientists to be researchers in an area of expertise,
with little or no formal instruction in teaching and pedagogy. Academic scientists typically develop their own
teaching styles and skills as they advance in their careers. In addition, with the help of instructional designers
and training available through their institution’s instructional technology centers, the biomedical scientist can
overcome some of the inherent limitations in the educational skillset. However, deep penetration of online and
blended learning in higher education and in our own biomedical graduate programs at Drexel University College
of Medicine, and the emergence of new e-learning approaches (e.g., digital game-based learning) underscore the
need to develop training programs for the next generation of higher education science faculty. This presentation
reviews a model of interdisciplinary post-graduate program for PhD trainees in four major areas of professional development are: (1) teaching in an online and blended format; (2) design and development of educational
digital games; (3) scholarly research in the field of emerging teaching technologies in higher education; and (4)
entrepreneurship. There will also be discussion with respect to the development of this unique postdoctoral
training program that addresses many of the future needs of science higher education while enhancing the research and development pathway that it serves.
An Onboarding Strategy for New Online Learners
Michael Ciocco, William McCool
PISB 120
Whether digital natives entering higher education or nontraditional learners returning after many years, students need careful guidance as they embark into the online learning environment for the first time. Training
and dissemination of information about the technologies, policies, and expectations is vital. But ensuring that
students receive this information in a timely fashion can be a challenge. While some students may embrace the
opportunity to prepare for their first online course, many others may not get the message that training was offered, or worse, they may seek to circumvent training completely. Unfortunately, it is often the case that new
online learners who do not receive training struggle in their first online class.
Over the past 9 years, Rowan University has evolved its training program for first time online learners. The
result is an onboarding strategy that combines administrative controls and a unique training course design to
deliver on demand, fast, and efficient training. Through integration of various systems, Rowan has the ability
to ensure that students taking their first online course must register for training and complete it. Students are
immersed in the online learning environment with full access to all technologies and support. The course con-
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Session 2 Abstracts (Continued)
11:15am to 12:00pm
tent is designed to impart Rowan specific knowledge in a mandatory module, then provides a series of optional
training opportunities allowing students to gauge their own need for additional knowledge. In this session, we
will provide an overview of the strategy, including administrative implementation, technology integration, and
training course design. We will also discuss how the training course is used as a recruiting and retention tool.
Session 3 Abstracts
1:45pm to 2:30pm
21st Century Skills & Brain Targeted Teaching: Re-Examining Online Education
Kristen Betts
PISB 104
Online education provides flexible opportunities for students seeking degree and certificate programs. While
flexibility is important, quality and the student experience must be central. This session explores how course
alignment with 21st century skills and the integration of Brain Targeted Teaching strategies can increase student
engagement, personalize the educational experience, and provide students with transferable skills for today’s dynamic and global workforce, career advancement, or advanced studies. Workforce needs and 21st Century Skills
will be discussed and an overview of the Brain Targeted Teaching model will be shared. Brain Targeted Teaching
strategies for meeting online course objectives and program outcomes will be demonstrated. Additionally, assessment artifacts will be presented.
From a Brick and Mortar Classroom to Online Biomedical Science Curriculum: The Odyssey of a Master of Science Bacteriology Course
Elise M. Mosser, PhD, Mariana E. Bernui, PhD,
Sandra Urdaneta-Hartmann, MD, PhD, MBA, Frances Sun
PISB 106
Drexel University is a pioneer in online education in multiple disciplines. However, as is true of most top-rated
graduate academic institutions, online course offerings in the life sciences remains limited. Until recently, Drexel
University College of Medicine had only three online programs: (1) a Master of Science (MS) in laboratory animal
science, (2) a MS in clinical research, and (3) a certificate program in clinical research and no online curriculum
specific to core areas of basic science. In 2012, the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease in the
Department of Microbiology and Immunology initiated a plan to convert its existing traditional MS program in
Molecular Medicine (MSMM) into a fully online program. This development plan will near completion in 2016.
This session reviews some of the challenges faced in this process and lessons learned from overcoming them.
From the faculty perspective, whether it’s a traditional (face-to-face), hybrid or online course, getting students
engaged in discussions of the primary scientific literature is typically challenging. Furthermore, there are scant
resources available for traditionally trained faculty who are designing courses for students interested in the medical and research fields. The presenters will showcase the development and implementation of the online version
of the MSMM course “Bacteria and Bacterial Infections”. They will discuss e-learning technologies currently
implemented to engage online students in scientific research discussions, a common learning activity in graduate
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Session 3 Abstracts (Continued)
1:45pm to 2:30pm
level science education to develop students’ critical thinking skills (i.e., data interpretation and analysis, experimental design, problem solving, scientific writing and collaborative work). Using this course as a case study, the
panel will discuss its successes in graduate level science education, as well as future plans for improvement.
Conducting Student Focus Groups to Assess the Use of Academic Technologies
Lauren Keefe, Shain Amzovski
PISB 108
Faculty and students engage with academic technologies at a greater rate than ever before. In considering the
student experience within Temple University’s Learning Management System, this presentation will demonstrate how Computer Services conducted its first Blackboard Student Focus Group project in the Fall of 2015.
Attendees will participate in an interactive discussion facilitated by the use of survey tools, assessment methodologies, and analysis methods. Ultimately, this will assist administrators as they explore student experiences
through evaluating the effectiveness and flexibility of the Blackboard LMS.
Using the JAWS Screen Reader to Demonstrate how Blind Students Encounter and Use
Online Course Content
Dan Allen, Theresa Gagliardi, John Davis
PISB 120
Have you ever wondered how blind students use the Web? What challenges do they encounter while attempting
to accomplish their tasks and goals online? How do they navigate the complicated world of online courses?
Blind students navigate the Web via screen readers, which are essentially web browsers that convert text into
speech. While screen readers open up the possible for blind students to use the Web, success is not guaranteed,
and is dependent upon whether or not the online environment was created with accessibility in mind. There are
a number of screen readers available; the most used and one of the most full-featured is a product called JAWS
(Job Access With Speech).
In higher education, we are increasingly appreciating the necessity and value in ensuring that our online environments are accessible to all potential learners, including those with disabilities. At Drexel University, through
the ongoing training provided by the University’s Online Accessibility Committee, and also the efforts of units
such as the Learning Technologies Group, LeBow College of Business’s Instructional Technical Services, and the
office of Information Resources and Technologies, we are steadily increasing the awareness of accessibility best
practices as we grow and develop our online programs.
We have learned that one of the most effective techniques in advancing the conversation on accessibility is to
keep the needs of students front and center. In this workshop we will do that by using JAWS to demonstrate the
challenges faced by blind students in online courses.
We will demonstrate:
•How blind students benefit from properly structured Word documents
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Session 3 Abstracts (Continued)
1:45pm to 2:30pm
•The importance of creating ALT text for images
•How to ensure the accessibility of Power Point files
•The value of using intuitive text for links and headings
•How to ensure the accessibility of tables and forms.
Session 4 Abstracts
3:00pm to 3:45pm
Increasing Student Engagement Using Turn It In and Visual Presentations
Dana Kemery
PISB 104
To increase student engagement and interaction, I used a combination of visual presentations (PowerPoint and
Posters) and the Turn It In (TII). Using the TII system PeerMark process, students completed two peer reviews
of two different visual presentations. Once the peer review process closed, all students in the course could view
all of the visual presentations and provide feedback in the discussion board forum specifically designed for this
purpose. Students reported that they enjoyed giving feedback to their peers in a safe environment and being able
to view all of the visual presentations once the PeerMark assignments were completed. Students also expressed
they felt more confident in giving feedback and in their visual presentation skills verses simply receiving feedback from the instructor.
A Graduate-Level Writing Course/Experience Built in Blackboard
Scott Warnock, Dan Driscoll
PISB 106
Supporting graduate students’ writing is a challenge at many universities. The rhetorical and intellectual demands of particular disciplinary graduate genres - e.g., literature reviews, thesis proposals - often spur graduate
faculty to seek writing help outside their programs. We are developing a Blackboard Learn Course designed to
lead graduate students through writing that supports their program work. The course creates an ongoing online
“writer’s group”: Through a series of customized modules designed by a program’s faculty, students in a particular program participate in focused writing tasks/genres. An academic program can identify these key tasks/
genres, such as a literature review or annotated bibliography, and then structure student progress through a
series of modules. Each module has several steps/activities:
•Pedagogical scaffolding (video, text) for that assignment.
•A discussion thread for peer review.
•A project dropbox.
•A discussion thread for reflection about the assignment.
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Session 4 Abstracts (Continued)
3:00pm to 3:45pm
We will use our in-progress project to discuss the intersection of writing pedagogies and learning technology,
identifying ways that such a digital course can provide novel support both inside and outside of a program’s
curriculum. This intersection helps us raise several broader points, which we will open for discussion. One, this
course may work best if programs commit to providing credit for it; the e-learning environment thus might
help programs re-think “credentialing.” Two, the course exemplifies the fundamental flexibility and openness of
e-learning. The course modules digitally somewhat reproduce the collegial “dissertation workshop” throughout
the student graduate experience; peer-driven writing interactions thus happen throughout the program, based
on the tasks/genres important to that program. Finally, the digital structure provides an efficient, effective way of
joining the expertise of particular graduate programs with an institution’s writing program. This project offers a
method of addressing the writing challenges for graduate students through the creation of a digitally-facilitated,
writing-centered learning community.
Lights, Camera, Blackboard - Increasing Engagement with Video and Multimedia
Russ Lichterman
PISB 108
The online instructor often struggles with creating dynamic content and engaging students effectively. Online
courses frequently rely on journal articles, textbook sections, and discussion boards as their foundation, but
when the instructor and students are faceless entities on the other side of a computer screen students can lose
the connection they would have in a face-to-face environment. At Wilmington University we strive to add synchronous and asynchronous multimedia and video pieces to as many online courses as possible to provide a
richer online experience. Using Blackboard Collaborate and other multimedia tools we attempt to create a rich,
dynamic environment for online learners. This session will share tips, tricks, tools, and examples to take online
courses in Blackboard to the next level.
Making Your Presence Known: Strategic Use of Video in Online Courses
Michael Gregory
PISB 120
Video has the power to break down barriers and reach online students with more effectiveness than many people realize. In a research survey, students were asked to compare online courses that included videos of their
instructor on-screen and courses with videos that did not include their instructor on-screen. With convincing
results, the students preferred to see their instructor on-screen, with the main reasons being engagement and
personal connection.
In this presentation, suggestions for creating well-placed, short, and personal course videos will be given. Topic
and content ideas will also be covered.
Making your presence known with some strategically placed videos will boost your student engagement and create a stronger connection between you and your students. The key is to focus on what you as the instructor can
add in your unique way through a video.
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Special Thanks to the Proposal Review Committee
The session for this event are reviewed by a committee comprised of representatives from institutions across the area. The following individuals agreed to be recognized for their help and support
in making this event great:
Martha L. Ankeny, MEd
Mary Ellen Bornak
Stephen Buchanan
Susan Darlington
Georglyn Davidson
Matt Davis
Martin A. Hoffman, Sr.
Dr. Theodoros Katerinakis
Douglas J. Koch, MMB
Cathy Kolongowski
Patricia Kubaska
David Lees
Rodney B. Murray, PhD
Julie D. Phillips, PhD
Sherri Place
Maggie Regan
Paul K. Schick
Christine M. Schwarz, EdD
Carol Seufert
Stephen V. Smith, PhD
Beth Ten Have
Richard Wack
If you are interested in participating in the selection of proposals for next year’s conference, please
let us know by e-mailing us at itg@drexel.edu.
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