Flow, Flexibility
and Student
Outcomes
LeAne Rutherford and Shelley Smith
Instructional Development Service
Agenda
• Rethinking Your Courses: Adaptability,
Flexibility and Flow
• Identifying Essential Course Competencies
• Identify Authentic Assessment Options
• Course Communication
• Final Thoughts
Impact on Your Courses
• Student illness and variable attendance
• Potential Faculty Illness
• Increased need for assignment, testing, and
course communication flexibility
• Accomplishing all this without disrupting the
course flow or “bottom-line” competencies
Identify Important
Course
Competencies?
Course Competencies/Outcomes
•Plan SMART:
•Specific
•Measurable
•Attainable
•Results-oriented
•Time-bound
Competency/Outcomes Examples
• Business Principles of Management: Identify
and integrate methods of organizational
structure and the related topics of division of
labor, authority/responsibility, span of control,
centralization/decentralization, delegation,
organizational change, staffing, and diversity
within the workforce.
• Chemistry 1: Name and write formulas for
inorganic compounds
Adapting Learning
Assessments?
Adapting Assessments
Think about:
• Focus on Adaptability and Flexibility
• More frequent testing (option to discard one)
• Alternative testing methods
• Variety of assignments to achieve single
objective
• Adapting different learning technologies
Assessment Variations
• Qualitative
• Quantitative
• Direct
• Indirect
• Application
• Declarative…
Direct Methods:
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Samples of individual student work
Pre-test and post-test evaluations
Standardized tests
Performance on licensure exams
Blind scored essay tests
Internal or external juried review of student work
Case study/problems
Capstone papers, projects or presentations
Project or course-imbedded assessment
Documented observation and analysis of student behavior/performance
Externally reviewed internship or practicum
ePortfolio
Activity logs
Performances
Interviews (including videotaped)
Examples
• Management: Graded Practical Exercise “Who
Goes Abroad Management Team Decision” (20
points, covering topics of organizational
structure).
• Chemistry: Laboratory Experiment—Inorganic
nomenclature (40 pts.)
• How could these be done electronically?
Student Communication
Student Communication
• What do you do now?
• What if F2F is not an option for all
students?
• What are your electronic options?
• Email
• Course alias
• CMS mail and news options
Final Considerations
• Know what’s Important
• Evaluate your comfort level
• Identify support systems
• ITSS (electronic options)
• IDS (Curriculum flexibility)