Strategies for Increasing Interactivity

The prevailing view of traditional educators is that high-quality student interactions are essential for positive student outcomes. A recent study that specifically focuses on the impact of interaction on student performance supports this view (Keefe, 2003). The study demonstrates that when student interactions increased in either the classroom or the online learning environment, student achievement also increased. This article will present some strategies you can try in your classes to improve student achievement through increased interaction. To increase students' ability to formulate questions extending beyond the immediate context of the course, try these suggestions:

• Prior to developing a project, have students deconstruct a project from a previous semester to generate questions focused on process and product.
• Have students redesign existing materials to eliminate weaknesses, build on strengths, and add new concepts.
• Have each student prepare one question from the assigned reading for the day. Put the questions in a hat, draw two (or more), and discuss them at the beginning of the class session. Include in the discussion a critique of the question, methods of formulating questions, and alternative methods of structured inquiry.

Sometimes the best way to assess student knowledge is by testing. However, if you want students to demonstrate mastery of course content, you can try these strategies:

• Have students develop presentations in which they 'teach' the concept or skill to other students.
• Have students publish papers on the Web for peer review. Writing the paper and providing peer feedback provide opportunities to demonstrate mastery.

If you'd like to increase communication among students by extending discussion beyond the classroom, you could:

• Use an online discussion board to post a question for class discussion and make posting to the discussion a graded assignment.
• Set up group areas in your course site and enable the group discussion board, virtual classroom, file exchange, and email functions. Ensure that assignments require the use of one or more of these resources.
• During the first class meeting, assign student partners to interview each other and use the results to post a 'biography' of their partner to the class site.

It is important for students to attend class ("Eighty percent of success is showing up." - Woody Allen). However, if you want students to go beyond passively sitting and listening, here are some ideas:

• Start each class with a short online quiz - this will "take roll" for you and provide statistics on the group's answers. You will be able to easily see the problem questions and use them to begin class discussion.
• Start class by asking a student to summarize the major points of the previous class session. You may want to follow by asking one or more students to fill in the gaps if essential elements are absent from the summary.
• At the end of class or a reading assignment, ask students to provide one concept that is 'crystal clear' for them and one that remains 'muddy water.'
• Capitalize upon opportunities for giving and receiving feedback - formative, ongoing, midpoint, and summative - on student performance, your performance, and the course material.

Reading is fundamental. Synthesis of reading material is necessary for understanding. Here are some strategies to help your students interact with course readings:

• Have students write a summary of a course reading and post it to the Web. Assign students to critique each other's summaries.
• Have students evaluate online course resources using specific criteria you have established. Have them identify "x" number of important ideas raised from their evaluation and communicate these points via email or post to the class discussion forum.
• Assign students to find and submit articles that present an alternative view or interpretation of an assigned reading.

Sometimes the best way to encourage discussion is to simply ask questions that encourage student reflection and intellectual risk-taking. Collison, Elbaum, Haavind, and Tinker (2000) have developed a questioning scheme, "full-spectrum questions," which is designed to encourage richer student participation in discussion:

• Probe "what, so what, now what!"
• Clarify meaning or conceptual vocabulary.
• Explore assumptions, sources, and rationale.
• Seek to identify cause and effect.
• Consider appropriate courses of action.

You may also wish to employ Socratic teaching methods by encouraging inductive student reasoning and active participation by purposeful questioning. Here are some suggested questioning techniques:

• Extending: asking students for more information or interpretation.
• Justifying: require students to defend their positions.
• Refocusing: directing the student's or class's attention to a similar or related issue.
• Prompting: providing hints.
• Redirecting: bringing students into the discussion by getting them to respond to another student's question or answer.

References

Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., & Tinker, R. (2000). Facilitating online learning: Effective strategies for moderators. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.

Keefe, T. J. (2003). Using technology to enhance a course: The importance of interaction. Educause Quarterly, 26 (1), 24-34. From Fall 03 ITC Topics

Student Interaction

Discussion forums are a simple, highly effective way to integrate technology into the classroom. Dr. Jack Cummings (1998) described his successful use of discussion forums in an online undergraduate class and a face-to-face graduate seminar.

Pros:

• Even students who are hesitant to speak in class have a voice if they are required to submit their input online.
• Dialogues can continue as long as anyone is willing to participate.
• Because the discussion forum is asynchronous, students can formulate their ideas before submitting them, thus improving the quality of the dialogue.
• Both instructors and students can review the discussions at a later time.

Cons:

• Instructor time required: for the forum to be effective, the instructor needs to create an environment in which the students feel comfortable conversing and must also be willing to dedicate time to providing proper feedback to students in the that will serve as a model for students to follow.
• Privacy concerns: To encourage individuality or ensure confidentiality of responses to certain topics, the instructor may choose to create private forums for each student that only the student and instructor can view.
• Discretion required: Students should be cautioned that discussion forums are classroom space and should be treated accordingly. Students should use appropriate language and be careful when divulging personal information.

References

Cummings, Jack A. (1998) Promoting Student Interaction in the Virtual College Classroom. Retrieved March 28, 2003 from
http://www.ihets.org/progserv/education/distance/faculty_papers/1998/indiana2.html

From Fall 2003 ITC Topics

Push Me, Pull Me - Make Me Learn

Interactivity in the face-to-face classroom setting can create meaningful, stimulating connections between a learner and a subject. But once the learner moves into an online environment, how does an educator involve the learner? A new discipline gaining respect among the multimedia design community is called Interaction Design. Nathan Shedroff (1994) writes:

Interaction Design is essentially story-creating and telling, is at once both an ancient art and a new technology. Media have always effected [sic] the telling of stories and the creation of experiences, but currently new media offer capabilities and opportunities not yet addressed in the history of interaction and performance (para. 2).

Build processes and steps into your learning materials that encourage active participation with the online content. Add simple rollover effects or have your students access content dynamically through the use of databases. The following are some of the many ways to make your content more engaging.

Require the Learner's Response

Create pathways for communication and reflection, thus helping sustain the learner's attention and interest. In the traditional sense, classroom time is thought of as lecture time. In the online environment learners read the lecture, reflect, and practice at their own pace. The requirement to interact with the content deepens the learner's involvement. The student invests in the online experience.

Elicit student engagement by invoking a required response:

• Fill out a simple form
• Take a test (in addition to the standard essay submissions, tests can include drag and drop elements, or input fields for proper labeling)
• Add photos to a database
• View a result

Steer learners into reflective thought:

• Interpret a presented image or written passage
• Resolve alternative solutions to a given situation
• Respond to opinion polls
• Download a PDF document (could require printing for viewing details)
• Examine a 3-dimensional (virtual reality) object or photograph
• Locate a specific scene in a movie exemplifying a particular idea or concept

Provide feedback or results:

• Provide direct feedback to a chosen answer (pop-up window indicating a correct/incorrect answer)
• Allow the student to follow a logic path that arrives at a conclusion or consequence
• Display group results
• Acknowledge the completion of a section (this feed back could take the form of audio, video, or a simple graphic)
• Embed rollovers that provide additional information

Reference

Shedroff, Nathan. (1994) Information interaction design: A unified field theory of design. Retrieved March 28, 2003 from
http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/unified/2.html.

From From Fall 2003 ITC Topics

Engaged Learning: Pathways to Success

Research findings over the past 30 years unequivocally support the fact that student learning and retention are strongly correlated with student engagement. The more actively engaged students are with the subject matter being conveyed, with faculty and staff, and with other students, the more likely they are to persist and achieve at higher levels. Perhaps the most consistent thread that runs through much of the research is the simple fact that students must be mentally engaged in order to learn. The connection between engagement and student success has been emphasized in a number of major research studies and reports on the undergraduate experience in American higher education.

What is engaged learning?

Engaged learning, often used synonymously with active learning, has various definitions throughout literature with an overall implication that the learning requires some form of interaction between the learner and the content. One definition of active learning, provided by Silberman (1996), states, "To learn something well, it helps to hear it, see it, ask questions about it, and discuss it with others. Above all, students need to do it - figure things out by themselves, come up with examples, try out skills, and do assignments that depend on the knowledge they already have or must acquire.

A recent study on the average retention for learning activities (National Training Laboratories, Bethel, ME) emphasizes the need to develop pedagogical strategies that engage the learner. For example, the study cites the following average retention of learning rates for a variety of pedagogical strategies:



Effective mental engagement (hence retention) relies on the instructor's ability to understand how students learn and to develop instructional objectives and learning materials that will address students' learning style or learning modalities as well as the strengths and weaknesses of their multiple intelligences. Learning style, or modality, refers to the manner in which learners prefer to acquire information.

As instruction embraces Web-based delivery, faculty must continue to seek instructional strategies that incorporate various learning styles.

In striving to reach a class of students with varied or preferred learning styles and where each student possesses multiple intelligences, the idea is not to teach each student exclusively according to his or her preferences, but rather to strive for a balance of instructional methods. If the balance is achieved, students will be taught partly in a manner they prefer, which leads to an increased comfort level and willingness to learn, and partly in a less preferred manner, which provides practice and feedback in ways of thinking and solving problems which they may not initially be comfortable with, but which they will have to use to be fully effective professionals (Felder, 2002).

References

Felder, Richard M. (2002). Learning Styles. Available:
http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Learning_Styles.html

Silberman, M. (1996). Active Learning 101: Strategies to Teach Any Subject. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

From Fall 2004 ITC Topics

Engaging Students in a Large Class

This is an admittedly difficult proposition. Group size and time constraints necessarily limit the frequency and duration of active participation by any individual member of the class. There are, nonetheless, activities that can increase the level of participation and active engagement with the course content in large groups.

Try This: Upon entering the classroom, each student drops a 3x5 card (or folded piece of paper) with their name and a question based on the previous lecture, or the homework assignment for today's class, into a box at the back of the room. The instructor randomly selects three questions, reads the student's name, and invites the writer to stand and ask their question. The instructor then invites anyone in the class who thinks they can answer the question to raise their hand and calls on one volunteer. If the answer is correct (or within the range of correct and/or plausible answers), both students receive one point. If the answer is not within the acceptable range, the instructor may elect to give another student the chance to answer the question, or may simply answer the question then move on to student question number two. Allot about five to ten minutes for this activity.

From Fall 2004 ITC Topics

Engaging Undergraduate Students in Research

Every discipline has a foundational base of knowledge, multiple avenues of inquiry, and one or more approved research methodologies to help develop or clarify the knowledge base. Once we have sufficient familiarity with the existing knowledge within a specific field, our curiosity as teachers and scholars motivates us to use appropriate methods of inquiry to engage in research that confirms or expands knowledge. One way to engage students in learning is to model this curiosity about a specific discipline and the passion for creating new knowledge. A logical way to do this is to involve students in our research efforts.

One component of the graduate enterprise is involvement in research. We presume foundational knowledge, and provide graduate students with supplemental knowledge and skills (how to find information they don't already know or understand well, how to develop good questions, how to design studies or experiments to address these questions). What is the difference between involving undergraduate students or graduate students in research efforts? Primarily, it is that undergraduates have a much smaller base of foundational knowledge, and presumably less experience in formulating questions and designing the studies or experiments to test their hypotheses.

The question is, can we teach the advanced skills of inquiry to undergraduate students at the same time we are imparting the foundational knowledge that they will need in order to pursue advanced studies? Actually this may be the perfect opportunity to teach students to ask questions. To a person who lacks the foundational knowledge in a discipline, all questions are as yet unanswered. In other words, if we can teach undergraduates how we formulate questions and how we structure our observations and experiments (or surveys, etc.), and provide them with an opportunity to practice these skills, they become engaged in learning. If they are formulating their own questions, they are becoming more invested in discovering some of the possible answers.

The trick is to teach the methods, skills, and techniques of research while providing abundant source materials to fill in the gaps in knowledge. As Barbara Fister (2001) points out, "[E]ngaging in research implicates students in the creation of knowledge. They need to understand that knowledge isn't an inert substance they passively receive, but is continually created, debated, and reformulated - and they have a role to play in that process."

Reference

Fister, B. Reintroducing Students to Good Research. Presentation, Lake Forest College, November 7, 2001.
Available: http://homepages.gac.edu/~fister/LakeForest.html

From Fall 2005 ITC Topics

Forestry, Wildlife, & Fisheries

In the practice of Forestry, the use of technology doesn't end at graduation. "Every Forester has a laptop in his truck," Dr. Jennifer Franklin explains. "They're an integral part of the profession now." And don't head for the woods without your digital camera, customized software, and GIS - an advanced data mapping system commonly used in tracking animals and testing soil. This gives the Department of Forestry another important reason to incorporate technology: equipping students for the rigors of their impending careers. The ITC has partnered with the Department in its pursuit of a technology-friendly curriculum, using a grant to provide every junior with a laptop for course and home use.

From Bringing the World to the Classroom - 2005 Spotlight on Jennifer Franklin, Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries

Small Animal Clinical Sciences

Dr. Diane Hendrix applied for and received a Faculty First grant from the ITC to help her construct The Eye Online. This interactive web-based program is designed to be the critical link between classroom learning and live patients for veterinary students. The Eye Online allows students to utilize information from lectures and make clinical judgments on artificial cases. This link between book learning and real-life patient care improves problem solving skills and clinical performance. The program consists of multiple individual cases. Each case covers a disease process in a veterinary patient, including age and breed of the patient, a clinical photograph, examination findings, differential diagnoses, differential etiologies, diagnostic tests, therapy, and pathogenesis.

Dr. Hendrix conceptualized The Eye Online for her students in their second year. She tells them, "Here are some cases available for you to work through to try to confirm your understanding of the disease process." But in their fourth year of school, the students also have down time. "It's a hurry up and wait scenario. Often the students are waiting for the results of a diagnostic test or waiting for a client, or they may be on emergency duty and it is a slow night. These students are bright enough that if we can give them something that is interesting to them, they will work with cases instead of just surfing the net and wasting their time."

From The Eye Online - 2005 Spotlight on Diane Hendrix, Small Animal Clinical Sciences

International Retailing

Kelly Price Rankin's International Retailing course included a final project, the virtual store visit, in which a team chose an international retailer and performed a virtual visit, reporting their findings in a final paper. After choosing an international retailer which had to be internationally-based (not based in the U.S.) and big enough so finding information about it was possible, students would search the international newspapers for mention of the retailer. Using the Google Language Tools, students could translate the page while completing the assignment. Student teams picked international retailers, and went to the web sites, using the translation tool to interpret the information. Based on certain criteria, the students would browse for information, and look for mention of the retailer in the online international newspapers.

From Using Technology To Make Learning (& Teaching) Fun; 2004 Spotlight on GTA@ITC Grant Recipients - Kelly Price Rankin, International Retailing

Professional Communication

In addition to using Online@UT for notes, background information, quizzes, midterms, and final exams, Dr. Linda Sennett uses the system to encourage student participation and reflection. Sennett provides suggestions about Netiquette, shortcuts for getting valuable research, and online resources. She then posts questions on the discussion board that require students to dig for answers, with the intent of creating an "Aha!" experience as they think about the material. This semester, for example, she asked them to recall and relate a time in their life when someone communicated something to them that was so powerful they still remember it today. Sennett was pleased with the quality and richness of the responses, which included unexpected communication aspects like body language.

From Improving Communication Using Technology; 2004 Spotlight on Linda Sennett, Communication Studies

Introductory Biology

As Dr. Stan Guffey's thoughts about the introductory sequence evolved, he was certain that technology could play an important role. One of his primary concerns was what to do about the labs. "Students had been doing these science courses with a lab, where you do demonstrations with glassware since at least the 8th grade. I wanted to introduce them to something new, something that would flow naturally from the topical lectures. I wanted student to engage with the topics at a deeper level. I had been turned on to the concept of the WebQuest, as an inquiry-oriented activity, and thought it might be the answer to my lab questions." WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. WebQuests all share the same basic elements. These include an introduction, task, information resources, processes, learning advice, and evaluation. Bernie Dodge with Tom March developed the WebQuest model at San Diego State University March. More information about the WebQuest model may be found at http://webquest.sdsu.edu/.

In 2002, Dr. Guffey received an ITC Wireless Instructional Initiative Grant to assist in his exploration of the use of WebQuests in the Biology 101/102 laboratory sections. With the assistance of the ITC, Dr. Guffey developed a number of "Bio-WebQuests." He implemented the WebQuest model in 8 laboratory sections, and continued to use the traditional laboratory approach in 8 additional laboratory sections. The intent of the project was to provide data to inform and stimulate wider thinking about changes that the Division of Biology might wish to introduce to all of its general biology courses.

Should we clone humans? What does cloning mean? What are the different typos of cloning? Should we clone human cells for the production of tissues and organs for transplantation? Should we use cloning technology to produce human beings? What are the scientific issues involved in cloning? What are the ethical issues concerning human cloning? If you happened to be a student in one of Dr. Guffey's WebQuest laboratories this past year, you would have had the opportunity to explore these questions with a small team of fellow students. In addition you would have created and shared a Powerpoint presentation and written a 1500 word position paper supported by your group research. The WebQuest site may be accessed at http://slate.it.utk.edu/webquest/cloning/.

"I think the WebQuest sections were successful right off the bat when students were introduced to the new concept. Something new really caught their attention, and many students were really excited about doing something differently. Students remarked that the experience was allowing them to actually think about things," Guffey states. "From a student satisfaction standpoint, the WebQuest sections were very well received." When comparing exam grades of students in the WebQuest laboratories with students in the traditional laboratories, there was no statistically significant difference. The WebQuest approach to laboratory sections is certainly worthy of further study.

From Technology as Lever for Change; 2004 Spotlight on Stan Guffey, Biology

Broadcasting

"Wayne Wanta, angry at his ex-girlfriend, went to her home and shot her. He then fled to the stock trading firm where he worked as a temporary employee until he was laid off earlier this week. Wanta is holding four people there as hostages. He has not made any demands. There is a radio but no TV in the office where he holds the hostages. You are news director at an all-news radio station in this community. Moments ago Wanta's ex-girlfriend died from her wounds, despite the best efforts of the emergency room doctors at the local hospital. You are minutes away from your noon newscast when the police chief calls you. The chief asks you to report that Wanta's girlfriend is still alive and likely to recover. The chief believes it will be easier to negotiate an end to the hostage crisis if Wanta thinks he will not be facing a murder charge. What ethical principles are in conflict? How would you resolve them?"

This is just one case you might find on Dr. Mark Harmon's Mass Media Ethics website. Mark believes that one of his greatest challenges in teaching broadcasting is to find ways to stimulate students' development of critical thinking skills. Students have the ability to memorize and recognize correct answers on multiple choice tests, but often lack the ability to analyze and to solve problems. Students visiting the site are provided with an overview of basic tenets of ethical behavior as it relates to mass media. In addition, students are provided with real and contrived cases involving ethical judgment and the media. The cases are posted on the website and are used to generate discussion both in and out of the classroom. By examining real world problems in the context of case studies, Mark challenges students to examine the subject matter through a lens of sound ethical principles.

From Integrating Technology into Broadcast Journalism; 2003 Spotlight on Mark Harmon, Journalism/Electronic Media

Information Sciences

Dr. Whitney arrived at UTK in 1994 and realized, "This school is wired. This school has the Web. This is very cool." She and her graduate assistant began learning HTML and placing course syllabi on the Web. They started out with a simple syllabus - really just an outline - and that grew into lecture notes, a course calendar, and related resources. Based on her success with using the Web for delivery of basic course materials, she began teaching the SIS students HTML, and having them create Holiday Home Pages. Some of the resources are still around, and the students have continued to keep them up to date.

She then became involved with KoRRNet (now DiscoverET.org), the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Regional Network of Tennessee. The idea of giving back to the community was inspired by what she was seeing at this community information network.

She and her students adopted many of the social service agencies in KorrNet and the students began developing information pages to be posted at KorrNet. Through their efforts, Dr. Whitney's students have contributed about 20% of the content on this site.

It's a fabulous experience for them, because they realize that information provision is more than just creating a Web site. It's more than just fussing with the technology. It's working with the people, understanding their information needs, recognizing their own tastes and interests that may be different from the students. In the early days, there were many funny moments, because the students have specific ideas of what goes together, and they still do, actually, they would come to me and they say "Dr. Whitney, my agency wants purple letters on a pink background. How do I tell them that this won't work?" And I have to explain to them that "It will work, and you can make it work. But you have to meet the needs of your agency, not your personal needs. You can guide them, but if they want purple on pink, you ask them what shade of purple and what shade of pink."

So it's a great use of the technology as a mechanism for teaching a much more important lesson. That is how to analyze information needs. And give back to the community at the same time. I used to preach the technologies don't really have a value associated with them, but I don't think that's true any more. I think they are value-laden, and this helps the students understand the values of the technology and what they're conveying to the people that are using it. It's very cool.

From From Baby Steps to Full Stride; 2000 Spotlight on Gretchen Whitney, Information Sciences