Bottoms Up on Assessment

Experience points (XP), are touted as one of the innovations possible when applying gaming principles to teaching. Players and learners gain points toward a goal. This isn't really a new concept. Systems of reward are a hallmark of shaping learned behavior in the behaviorist approach to teaching and training. Many of us raise our eyebrows at the notion of handing out M&Ms every time a learner takes a tiny step toward our learning goals. And from the learner's point of view what good is an XP? It isn't even made of chocolate.

But wait, there IS something important here worth considering.

It turns out many of us like to see our XP pile up. But aside from the pleasure of receiving tokens for our successes, there are pedagogically significant reasons for employing XP meaningfully. A close examination of how XP works might turn our approach to both Assessment and Risk taking upside-down.

Assessment and motivation.
Ordinarily a learner begins class with an A, a 100. Everything she does from that first day on has the chance of maintaining her A or reducing her initial grade down to 99, then 98, then 97.  Alternatively, a learner who receives XP for her work, starts with 0 points. Everything she does from that first day on has the chance of either maintaining her 0 or increasing her XP to 1, then 2, then 3. In other words in the traditional model there is no where to go but down.

Assessment and risk taking.
When everything you do has the chance of reducing your 100, the safest course of action is to, err, play it safe. This assessment approach encourages learners to figure out what won't cause them to lose. Thinking creatively is risky. On the other hand when XP are at stake, trying anything is better than doing nothing. Failure doesn't take away points. So risk taking is valued in an XP system.

What's in a name?
It is not important that this upside down approach occur within the context of "gamification" strategies or even that one uses the words experience points or XP. The value of XP as it is used in games is that it reminds us that assessment doesn't have to take the traditional form. The significant change occurs when we base our assessments on learners successes rather than on their failures. And this isn't a new idea either. Just as rewards in learning have their earliest appearance in BF Skinners work, the idea of assessing success is a hallmark of mastery learning introduced to us by Benjamin Bloom in 1971. In mastery learning students have multiple opportunities and ways to achieve A. Making a mistake is ok. Practice and try again.

What does it look like?
Many teachers already assign "points" to assessment tasks. 10 points for journals, 20 points for the draft storyboard... The recipe for turning grading upside down is:

• One part: change of perspective. Believe that it is possible and desireable to help more students get to A.
• One part: more assessment possibilities. Give students the opportunity to resubmit assignments. Give students more activities than are necessary to achieve A. Give students choice in activities.

A does not have to have an upper limit. In the classes in which I have adopted this upside-down assessment approach, I see students doing much more than is required. If I require 800 points for an A, most students surpass that, by 20 or more percent. They do more work with better quality. And they are not afraid to fail when the stakes are low.

_Bloom, B. S. (1971). Mastery learning. In J. H. Block (Ed.), Mastery learning: Theory and practice(pp. 47–63). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
_Skinner, B.F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. New York: Macmillan

This post is adapted from XP and Me my February 2014 post in the blog Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds.

Teaching through confusion

In this video Dr. Derek Muller shares his research on how clear, explanatory videos do not help students learn science concepts. He found that clear linear explanations simply increase the learners confidence in their misconceptions. He argues that a bit of confusion causes learners to confront their incorrect theories and enables learners to explore complexity.




Muller's findings were initially surprising to me. Clear is better, right?

And yet I know that just because I explain something to a student (whether in speech, or written text), that information is not received as delivered. According to constructivist theories, information is not transmitted directly. Learning is a process of making sense and is filtered (mediated) through language, experience, culture - not to mention attention.

Muller addresses attention also. He found that when the instructional video's were described by learners as confusing, they paid closer attention. When the message seemed clearcut, learners paid less attention to what they were seeing and hearing.

While Muller's research deserves replication, it raises some great questions about all of the material and activities we offer students. Is there a sweet spot between easily accessible (where learning doesn't occur) and impenetrable (where learning doesn't occur), where enough complexity is offered to provoke learning?

What Makes for Student Success?

I just found this video made by my friend and colleague Lindsey Rothschild, Instructional Designer for Holyoke Community College. In this two minute video three faculty members and three students explain tips for being a successful online student.

Two points stood out for me related to being present "in class." Frequency and care.

1. Being present frequently was addressed by both faculty and students. Watching for and reading announcements from teachers, responding to posts and email, completing activities several times per week are tips for students to demonstrate frequent presence.

2. Careful reading and writing were also highlighted. Both faculty and students highlighted the importance of reading completely and writing in a way that makes it easy for others to understand and engage with your ideas.

How do you set expectations for your students to succeed in your online classes? If you have tips for setting or communicating expectations, please post a comment below. If you want help clarifying your expectations of students, let me know.

The Internet minus Copyright = Open Education Resources (OERs)

Why Open Education Matters a 2 min 27 sec video by David Blake

Case:

Dr. Smith needs high quality (accurate, authoritative, current) educational content for her undergraduate courses. Right now Smith uses textbooks in each of her classes. She has carefully reviewed texts from good publishers. She is confident in the material in those she has selected and happy-enough with the organization of content. She is not happy that her students have to pay between $90 and $200 for these books.

[Wouldn't it be great if we could provide high quality content to students without the exorbitant cost? Maybe we can.]

Dr. Smith heard that some of her colleagues had replaced their textbooks with open educational resources (OERs).  She learned that OERs are teaching and research resources that are published with an "open license" to be used and shared, for free. She asked her librarian and instructional designer for help. Together they found a rich collection of materials that substituted nicely for her text books. Her students are happy. And Dr. Smith is pleased that she is using excellent content in a variety of formats (e-books, articles, videos, interactive web activities).
_________________


Scholars and educators around the world have begun to recognize that they will have a larger impact if they share their content rather than if they hold onto it. You may be able to find OERs that suit your instructional needs, at one of the many repositories of OER content. And what about all the great content you create?

Resources:
An OER Handbook from WikiEducator
TideWater CC offers a zero textbook cost ("Z") degree in Business Admin
9 Videos, each under 5 mins, from Edutopia's Why Open Education Matters video contest

Meeting Diverse Learners Needs

Whether we have students with identified learning disabilities or not, we have students who process and understand information in ways different from our own.

Universal Design for Learners (UDL) is a set of principles that guide how to meet diverse learning needs. We can be most effective at engaging and supporting learning when we follow these three principles of UDL:

1. Provide multiple means of representation - the ways we present content.
2. Provide multiple means of action and expression - the ways we encourage students to show their understanding.
3. Provide multiple means of engagement - the ways we help students make personal meaning and connection to content.

This graphic organizer from the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) offers increasingly sophisticated steps to apply these principles to help students become resourceful, strategic and motivated learners.

Used with permission from CAST on 2.19.15

Some things you can do to get started.

1. Representation - mix it up! 

Communicate with your students using alternatives to text; record your voice or a short video. When using text, add relevant images and graphics that can help students make sense of your words.

2. Action and Expression - mix it up! 

Give students opportunities to share their understanding through creative projects: create an advertisement for a concept, artwork, a letter, a dance, an app., a word cloud.

3. Engagement - mix it up! 

Provide multiple ways for learners to navigate your course. Use sources that represent multiple perspectives. Locate relevant TED Talks, Youtube videos, Blogs, twitter feeds. Give students choices. Provide ways for students to work purposely together.

Do you have ideas to share about universal design for learning? Please comment below. If you need help coming up with ideas for making your course more accessible to your students, let me know.

Resources:

A .pdf and text readable transcript of this graphic are available at the UDL Center. 

For other resources on UDL visit CAST.

Using Youtube

Here is a Youtube activity I like to use. For this example I am using the broad topic global health. Feel free to apply it to your own content.

Video and Discussion Assignment Overview
This week we will use the discussion thread called Current Events in Global Health to discuss information you have found.

Assignment Details

Step One
Go to youtube.com

In the big search bar at the top of the page, enter keywords related to global health. You may use one of the following keyword sets or choose your own.

global health
h1n1 vaccine
global health ebola
emergency preparedness ebola
global health vaccine
global health drinking water
global health nursing

Step Two
Review at least three short videos. Consider their length (how many mins), age (when posted), source (you may have to infer this based on content; watch out for ADs), value (what the video might contribute to our discussion).

Step Three
Select one and post the address/link in the discussion forum. Include a 25 word or less reason why you selected this video to contribute to the discussion.

Step Four
View and comment on at least two of your classmates' videos.


Why Do I Use Youtube?
Sure there is a lot of dubious material on Youtube. And there is some excellent content there too! This assignment gives students practice analyzing and discussing the relative value of content found on the internet. As a group we are able to peer review the content and learn from each other's effort and perspective.

Want to comment on this assignment or recommend another? Leave a comment below. If you want help considering ways to use internet resources within your course let me know.

Are you Teaching Above the Line?

In the 1990s Dr. Ruben Puentedura introduced the SAMR model for describing the use of technology for learning. Going from the bottom up, direct substitution of a digital tool or process for an older technology or practice does not substantively change learning. When we use digital technologies to create new opportunities - previously unavailable - for our students, we can transform learning.

image licensed for reuse under CC by Ruben Puentedura

Though there is no cut and dry way to determine if an activity is strictly substitution, augmentation, modification or redefinition, consider this example.

College essays were written with paper and pen. Then using the technology of the typewriter they were neatly typed. Then with the advent of computers papers were typed on a computer and printed possibly in multiple copies for distribution. These technological advances enhance the experience of writing, but do they transform it? I suggest these advances fall below the dotted line of the SAMR model. Writing activities that might go beyond enhancement, or above the line, include publishing papers for a large audience and using a teacher's social network to invite expert feedback.

The technology alone does not transform learning. It is how we use it. When we first start teaching online, it is tempting to use digital tools and activities to substitute for the traditional classroom experience. As we gain confidence, we must consider moving up the SAMR model.

If you have ideas to share about transformative uses of digital technologies/media, please comment. If you need help generating transformative strategies, let me know.