1. Improving Online Student Engagement
Through Synchronous Learning Sessions
Using a College-Wide Lecture Series
Approach
Heather Zink / Manager, Hybrid Classroom Delivery
Miranda Dyer/ Adjunct Faculty, School of Business
Rasmussen College

2. Contact Information
Heather Zink, MHA
Hybrid Classroom Manager
heather.zink@rasmussen.edu (email)
twitter.com/zinkpath (twitter)
www.linkedin.com/in/heatherzink (LinkedIn)
952-230-5068 (office)
download slides: http://heatherzink.wordpress.com
1/13/2013

3. Contact Information
Miranda Dyer, MS
Adjunct Faculty, School of Business
miranda.dyer@rasmussen.edu (email)
www.linkedin.com/pub/mirandadyer
(863) 661-6110 (office)
Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential.

4. GOALS OF THE SESSION
• Develop an understanding of hybrid learning
opportunities for online students
• Discuss key components to engaging students in
virtual live learning sessions
• Improve both the student and faculty experience
in online courses
Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential.

5. History of Live Lecture
2011 2012
Voluntary 2013
2008 adoption Required Live
Require student
encouraged – Lecture to be Establish
Launched virtual participation for
random acts of offered weekly mandatory
webinar tool – full credit in
progress among by faculty – no attendance at
Wimba discussion
motivated faculty student live lectures.
forums.
requirement
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 5

6. Successful Hybrid Delivery in Online Courses
1 synchronous session per week
It’s required
Assessment of learning based on participation
Offer quality and they will come!
Create standards for delivery
Implement performance management reviews
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 6

7. Live Lecture Project
• High failure, high enrollment, low retention– how
do we change this?
• Q1/Q2 students – what makes them different?
– What needs do they have?
• Live lecture series
• T-E-A-M of highly motivated faculty to create
interactive sessions focused on weekly objectives –
Lead & Lecturers
• Assess student learning from participation in the
learning session – 5-10% of overall score
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 7

8. Live Lecture Courses
Courses 2013 projects
Intro to Business Medical Coding
College Algebra Intro to Undergraduate Research
English Composition Technology in the 21st Century
Intro to Criminal Justice Financial Accounting
Medical Terminology Structure & Function of the Human Body
Computer Applications Criminology
Reading & Writing Strategies Additional Q1 courses
Foundations of Math
AcceleratED Bachelor’s courses
Foundations of Early Childhood
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 8

9. Attendance Stats – M120
Of 536 students finishing the course…
• 88% attended at least 1 session (↑2%)
• 70% attended over half of the sessions (same)
• 85% pass rate (↓2%) Sessions Course
• 84% average score (same) attended Average
0 60.1
• 83% retention (↑1%) 1-4 59.9
---536/645--- 5-8 86.5
all 94.1
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 9

10. Grades increase with attendance
M120 Final Grades
100.0
90.0
Final Grades
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 all
Sessions attended
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 10

11. …notice anything about students attending at
least 5 sessions a quarter…
Final Scores B080 B099 B136 D132 G124 G233 J100 M120
0 sessions 43.7 39.9 47.6 53.9 50.4 62.2 33.7 60.1
1-4 sessions 43.9 47.5 50.4 69.8 46.5 45.3 32.3 59.9
5-8 sessions 74.7 73.3 80.8 86.0 76.9 76.7 82.4 86.5
All 9 sessions 82.0 84.7 92.7 94.9 88.8 85.6 91.6 94.1
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 11

12. “Rate Your Instructor” Survey Results
D132
B080 Computer
Reading & B099 B136 Applications & G124 G233 J100 M120
Writing Foundations Introduction Business English College Introduction to Medical
Strategies of Math to Business Concepts Composition Algebra Criminal Justice Terminology Grand Total
5 83.2% 83.3% 68.8% 78.1% 73.8% 88.4% 92.7% 72.1% 76.7%
4 12.4% 9.5% 23.4% 17.3% 17.6% 9.3% 5.5% 18.2% 16.6%
3 3.5% 6.0% 6.8% 3.1% 5.6% 1.2% 1.8% 7.1% 4.9%
2 0.9% 0.0% 0.5% 0.9% 1.7% 0.0% 0.0% 2.3% 1.1%
1 0.0% 1.2% 0.5% 0.6% 1.3% 1.2% 0.0% 0.3% 0.6%
Scores 4 and
95.6% 92.9% 92.2% 95.5% 91.4% 97.7% 98.2% 90.3% 93.3%
above
# of survey
responses/ 113/315 84/126 192/495 352/940 233/490 86/441 55/161 308/625 1423/3593
Enrollments
All students attending a live lecture in Week 4 of Summer term completed a SurveyMonkey questionnaire rating
their lecture instructor after the lecture was complete. Faculty were rated on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being
ineffective and 5 being engaging and knowledgeable.
Notes of Interest
• All courses demonstrated an above average rating with >90% responses rating the instructor at 4 or 5.
• B136 shows the lowest 5 rating and highest 4 rating – this may be due to the frustrations students felt as a
result of missed lectures. One lecturer continually struggled to meet her students in a timely manner.
• M120 had several new lecturers this term, presenting a possible explanation for the lower ratings.
Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential.

13. Final Grades vs. Session Attendance
100.0
90.0
80.0
70.0
B080
60.0
Final Grades
B099
B136
50.0
D132
40.0
• On average, students attending over half of the G124
30.0 lectures are ending the quarter with higher scores G233
as compared to those who do not attend sessions
J100
20.0 • Students not attending at least 5 sessions had a
much more varying success rate, on average with M120
10.0 scores below a passing range
0.0
0 1-4 5-8 all 9
Lectures attended throughout the quarter
Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential.

14. Embedded Librarian Partnership
• Professional Practice Activity – student
success is highly variable
• Library and Learning Center staff attended
sessions to discussed assignment specific
resources
68%  84%
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 14

15. Key Engagement Strategies
You’ve got the students in the ‘room’, now what?
Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential.

16. Live Lecture components
• Each session includes (at minimum):
– Ice breaker question/activity
– 5 polls/quick quizzes
– 1 video/animation/interactive website
• Another voice other than the instructor
– Interaction with the students every 5 minutes
• eBoard use, student questions through chat
– Webcam use & picture uploaded
What if you called it a ‘workshop’?
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 16

17. Workshop Structure
• Think of each 1 hour workshop as a ‘lab’
• Students come with textbook exercises/assignments
complete – communication prior to workshop is key!
– Specific questions/agenda discussed in workshop
– Answers and/or sample assignments are provided – it’s a work
session, the group will work through the problems
– Potential for small group work in Breakout Rooms
• Each workshop still includes :
– Ice breaker question, 5 course polls, 1
video/animation/interactive website, webcam
use & picture uploaded
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 17

18. Types of Content
 Upload visuals – pictures, PPT slides, videos
 Show web pages and have students may complete activity.
 Use eBoard to draw, point, underline to highlight or create
content.
 Use Application Share to review an application or go review a
paper.
 Create Poll questions – interaction
promotes conversation!!
 Select a ‘note-taker’.

19. Student & Faculty Experience
Life is good!!
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential.
19

20. Student Comments
 “…it is nice to recap the information I read in the book and hear a bit of
examples on the subject. It helps it stick in my brain more. I do
sometimes having trouble getting into a session since I am home alone
with my children most of the time and it is hard to hear then. I do my
best and think I have found a good time span to do this. Overall I think it
is a good time for review and makes it seem kind of more like a real
classroom environment. I am unable to take residential classes due to my
childcare situation so being able to take more courses online was the main
reason I chose Rasmussen. The Live lectures are a great way to get the
experience of being in a class. Thanks.”
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 20

21. Email to a librarian
I am very excited to tell you that my ICD-9-CM course has updated a few
things this quarter. We had discussed in the past about how I had a hard time
with their live review sessions in the Wimba room because there were no
slides to look at, no attendance taken, and no image of the professor on the
screen. It was just a voice droning on and on about numbers and 5th digits
which really bored me to death.
This semester however, they have slides and instructors on webcam, and
offer white board during class and give out attendance twice during the
class to make sure that everyone is really there. I am soooo happy. I've
already learned more in one class session like this than I did all last quarter.
Whoever spearheaded the notion that class should be like this was a genius
because it is exactly what I needed.
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 21

22. More Good Stuff!!
 “I actually look forward to the live lectures. I enjoy them every week! We get a
lot of information from them that helps on the assignments and quizzes.”
 “I was a little unsure about the live lectures at first but now I really enjoy them. It
just gives me a chance to learn the material better than from just reading the
chapter. I wouldn't change anything. I look forward to it every week.”
 “Honestly I missed the first two weeks because I forgot about it then the second
week I didn't realize it was in Eastern Time since we were all from MN, or ND area
I assumed it was Central Time. But I do enjoy them and wouldn't change anything
but make us involved just a little bit more but not too much. It gives people a
chance to show off how much they know and some learn more by being more
involved.”
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 22

23. Faculty is One Important Factor..
• Students must see faculty is behind sessions
• Need for communication to students
• Feedback on where students struggle
• Help notify of issues
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 23

24. What are the faculty saying?
• Sense of connection for my students.
• Holds them accountable to time
• Feel they are not alone
• Sense of Security
• Sense of Community
• Strong Connection
• Knowledge increases (not just passing but gaining the
knowledge of the material)
January 13, 2013 Copyright Rasmussen, Inc. 2011. Proprietary and Confidential. 24