Supporting an Online Community of Inquiry for 700400Active* Mathematics Majors at Western Governors UniversityGideon L. WeinsteinMentor, Secondary Mathematics Education*Things change really fast at WGU; this presentation discusses approximately how we did things in April 2009, but we’re already doing things differently only six months later.

WGU “Courses”“Standardized Self-paced Independent Study”Several “Tasks” (Papers/Projects/Performances) Final ExamLearning Resources(Interactive e)TextbookCourse of Study = extremely detailed study planLearning CommunityLearning Community Mentor

WGU Communities Program Community - affinityPermanent degree-based membershipUndergraduate Secondary Mathematics Education, orGraduate Secondary Mathematics Education, orMaster of Arts in Teaching, orPost-Baccalaureate Certificate in Teaching Learning Community - contentTransient course-activated membershipCourse or Degree-level (varies by type and size)Mathematics Major for High School Educators

WGU’s Disaggregated FacultyCurriculum DeveloperAssessment Department: psychometricians, editors, experts,…InstructorDoes not exist at WGUTask Grader/Exam “Scorer”Part-time Content Evaluators/Expert PanelsCoach and Academic AdvisorStudent Mentor: recurring and primary contactSocial and Professional Network Connection Program Community MentorTutor and Learning AdvisorLearning Community Mentor

Learning Community PurposeDevelopment of Student CompetenceLong-term: Helping students become self-directed learners by teaching academic skillsShort-term: Tutoring students who are stuckBuilding Relationships learner-learner mentor-learner5

Threaded and Tagged Discussion BoardBlog/Document/Announcement“Office Hour” Chat/Conference Call“On Demand” Chat/Email/CallSupplemental Learning Objects(Each mentor customizes tool use to their content, community size, and personal circumstances)Learning Community Tools

Gideon’s Community, created 12/2007Covers 34 tasks and 4 exams; ‘classical’ major~400 students (moderate size for WGU)200+ Discussion Threads100 evenings doing Conference Call Office HoursHundreds of “on-demand” individual callsThousands of email messages, one to three business day turnaround7 Documents, 4 Announcements, 4 Learning Objects, 1 Blog Post

Learning Community ChallengesBalancing “teaching to the test/task” vs. “Learning for learning’s sake”Balancing “talking over” vs. “talking with” students in the discussion threadsCreating connections among studentsBalancing “economy of scale” vs. “high-touch” non-scalable interactionNavigating discussion threads

Gideon’s Tag Cloud geometry proof assessment calculus technology calculator number_systemsabstract_algebraobjective_exam algebra discrete_mathematics induction symbols centroid chat closure complex course_of_studyequation_editorlinear_algebra preassessment recursion statistics amplitude automorphismcos delta email epsilon exam i_hatinduction_stepinductive_step matrix calculus_proofcomplex_numbers …………………………………………………………….

Learning Communities for you?Share your existing onesBrainstorm about creating themDiscuss transferabilityOther(WGU’s Clearspace implementation on following slide)

WGU Community ToolsStudentStart Discussion ThreadsEmail Notification RSS feedMentorEmailerEdit ThreadsBlog PostAnnouncementsDocuments