Project #:  F05BK

Proposal Title: Student Designed Web Tutorials

Stipend Level:  2


In the space below, present a statement of your proposed research project (approximately 500-1000 words), including a general description of the scope and nature of your project, the design or the outline to be followed. Describe your planned activities and timelines.
This project proposal is and extension of my Spring 2005 project and is designed to determine whether the use of student designed web tutorials facilitates learning of subject content and online literacy skills.  Online research relies heavily on the ability of the individual to distinguish sites that are appropriate, reliable, and accurate from sites that are not.  I think the assignment increases content knowledge, reinforces information from the lecture and text in a format that traditional aged students are familiar with, increases the skills of students who might not be familiar with online research, and helps students develop critical assessment skills for online information.  I would like to repeat the project to add numbers and reliability to the findings from Spring 2005 (I will assign this project during the summer session also).  I am already seeing evidence that some of my questions are being answered this term, but because the project is not completed I haven’t assessed my student’s work or surveyed the class.  My classroom research project will continue to concentrate on the general question, “Does the creating, exchanging, and taking of web tutorials increase content knowledge, quality of work, and online literacy skills in my Biosci 221 Microbiology classes?”  Early comments from my students seem to be, yes, it does increase interest and engagement.  I would like to opportunity to gather additional data, to refine the assignment for use in other classes, and to eventually expand the use in my classes.

I have made some changes to the web tutorial assignment since my Spring 2005 proposal.  The project will take approximately 7 weeks in the latter part of the course, during a major section on bacterial taxonomy, diagnostics, and disease.  I will be following the progress of two sections of Biosci 221; approximately 58-60 students.  At the beginning of this part of the course the students will be assigned a web tutorial project I call “Make One, Take One”.   The students will pick a topic (topics will be fairly specific to avoid repetition) to research online, will choose three appropriate websites and use Proquest to research and include 2 peer reviewed scientific journals (new).  The tutorials must include background information on the topic, 3 sites/2 articles, 20 questions, and a final 10 question quiz.  When these are completed they are turned in to me (with an answer key), and exchanged at random with other students who then take the tutorial—answer the question, take the quiz, and comment on the quality of the tutorial.  These completed tutorials are turned in to me for final assessment.  The tutorial is in lieu of a traditional research paper and is worth 10% of their final grade.  Students will also be assessed on the content information via section exam.

All students will be shown an example of a web tutorial (new).  One section of Biosci 221 will receive in depth instruction in online research via a library tour and/or me, including review of appropriate sites.  The other class will not attend a tour and will receive only basic instruction/guidance.  I will survey the students regarding if/how the project increased their online literacy skills.


What are the objectives of your project? Describe the relevance of your project to student learning.
 The main objective of this project is to continue the objectives of my Spring 2005 project.  I think that the objectives are relevant to student learning in the following ways:
•    increases content knowledge
•    reinforces information from the lecture and text
•    increases the skills of students who might not be familiar with online research
•    increases student’s ability to research journal articles
•    increases their exposure to current research in science
•    helps students develop critical assessment skills for online information
•    increases engagement and motivation

What evaluation methodology will you use to provide progress measures for your project? Include a description of your benchmarks.
 The Tutorial project will be graded according a rubric.  I will measure success of the project based on a majority of the students earning a grade of “C” or higher on the project.  Content knowledge will also be assessed via section exam at the end of the project—probably on the final exam.  In addition, as part of my end of the semester survey/course evaluation I will ask students about the effectiveness of the tutorial project: Did the exercise facilitate their learning of material?  Did the exercise increase interest in the topic?  How did the fact that the tutorials are exchanged with other students effect your motivation to create a quality project?  In what ways, if any, did this project increase you skills in online research?  How difficult was it to access peer reviewed scientific journal articles?

What teaching strategies/learning concepts/pedagogical theories/technology skills did you gain knowledge of through the Institute of Teaching and Learning courses that you will apply to your classroom research?
The web tutorial project was born out of the IT&L course EDU 090 Strategies in Online Teaching.  In science classes, we hope to take students on a field trip during the term.  This is very difficult in an online class.  The web tutorial was presented in EDU 090as a way for students to take a virtual field trip—to read, explore, and see images they might not see in class.  I have used this technique in my online classes and students have expressed that they enjoyed it and learned from it.  This term in my microbiology classes I decided to use this assignment because field trips are not usually taken.  I also wanted the students to learn how to access scientific journals via services like Proquest for research.  It is important that science students become familiar with the value and format of peer reviewed journals.  I did not want them to lose out on that experience by doing a strictly website based tutorial and so have added the journal article aspect.  In addition, in EDU 090 and also EDU 082 Teaching in the Community College and EDU 091 Case Studies in College Teaching a common teaching problem was addressed:  student motivation.  Designing, exchanging, and taking a peer’s tutorial is an attempt to increase interest and motivation to both learn content and to create a quality product.  I am finding that this is the case.  Students have commented that they really enjoyed doing the assignment and are excited for someone else to take their tutorial.  Most students, especially traditional aged students, are very comfortable browsing online and many already use websites for supplementing course information.  So although the idea came out of the online strategies class I decided to add it to a traditional onground course.  In EDU 082 the technique of surveying students was presented.  I have now incorporated surveys at the beginning of the class (interest survey), middle of the course, and final survey.  I will incorporate assessment of this project into the final survey.

How many students (approximately) will participate in the research project? 58
 
What do you (as an instructor) hope to learn from your research? Describe any instructional development or improvement you hope to glean from this project.
I hope to develop a tool that I can use and modify for both online and on-ground classes.  I hope to develop the tool for use as an assignment and as a research project.  I think that with some additional objectives, it is also an appropriate project for HITE students. For the students, I hope to incorporate an online assignment that is more motivating and effective than a traditional assignment.  I hope to increase the student’s content knowledge, motivate them by using a tool they already use in their daily lives (web), and increase their online literacy skills.  As an instructor I hope to learn whether or not this assignment is effective because it is in lieu of a traditional paper. Though it is a fair amount of work for the student and instructor it is, hopefully, less than a traditional research paper.  Because the amount of content knowledge acquisition is high in science classes I look for techniques that will increase efficiency in learning.  So I hope to answer the following questions:  Should I continue to use the assignment?  Should I revise it?  How much instruction on online research do the students need?  Is this an effective way to efficiently increase student content knowledge?  Finally, surveying students has proven to be an effective learning tool for me.  Feedback from the students helps me assess my delivery, format, etc.  I know that the students feel empowered and engaged when they are allowed to affect what happens in the classroom, and this increases the quality of the classroom environment.  The feedback I receive increases the quality of instruction they, and subsequent students, will receive.  So in the end, I hope to develop a useful tool that increases student learning, and have student feedback that will effect positive changes in my teaching ability.


Anticipated Research Costs (if any)?  $  0