Intensifying the Impact of Experiential Learning through Innovative Online Course Design
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Presentation given by Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Ellen Stoddard, and Mamta Saxena at the 2015 National Society for Experiential Education conference
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Intensifying the Impact of Experiential Learning through Innovative Online Course Design
- 2. Intensifying the Impact of Experiential Learning through Innovative Online Course Design Mamta SaxenaGail Matthews-DeNatale Ellen Stoddard
- 3. Presentation Outline • Warm-up Exercise • Northeastern CPS Online Experiential Learning – Challenge and Change – EL Theories & Models that Inform Our Design – OEL Course Exemplar • Q&A
- 4. Warm Up Exercise • Turn your back to your neighbor so that you can’t see each other • Change one thing about yourself • When I tell you to do so, turn around and try to determine what your neighbor has changed
- 5. Debrief • What did you change? • What does that tell you about how you think about change? • When you think about online learning, what do you focus on (e.g., loss or opportunity)?
- 6. Change Within Higher Education We are moving from an instructional paradigm to a learning paradigm ... from thinking about [courses and programs] as an aggregation of separate activities to becoming an integrated design. Bass, R. (2012) Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education
- 7. Northeastern and Change • Known for Co-op program • Experiential learning focused on co-op for undergraduates • In 2013 CPS took on the challenge to offer experiential learning to adult online learners • Challenges we face
- 10. “process where knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” Kolb (1984) 10 Definition
- 11. Model
- 17. Theory to Practice-Online Design Steps Online Activities Concrete Experience Virtual labs or field trips Simulations Games Role-playing Reflective Observation Online blogs and journals E-portfolio Concept-checks interactive lessons Abstract Conceptualization Interactive lectures Multimodal Content Active Experimentation Simulations Games Role-playing Wikis
- 19. Value Added TANALYTICS: Track Learning to Improve Learning
- 20. Curricular, co-curricular, and pedagogical experiences that provide students with opportunities to develop the kinds of learning they need … High impact practices are cumulative experiences that increase rates of student retention and student engagement Kuh (2008) High Impact Practices
- 22. How many of the high impact strategies and experiential learning concepts are at play in the following example?
- 23. Making Thinking Visible: The How People Learn Course Hi Everybody - I've spent the morning skimming through your synthesis papers and this first pass has been a very enjoyable read! I tallied up the key terms in your papers and created the Wordle to the right. The larger the text size, the more frequently the term was mentioned in the collection of synthesis papers. You might want to keep this in mind as you refine the analysis section of your case study. The largest words are probably also the biggest ideas relevant to your case study scenario! Take Care – Gail
- 24. Visual Method for Surfacing Prior Assumptions What words do you associate with the concept of "learning"? How do these terms relate to each other?
- 26. Eliciting Observation and Detail Prompts are embedded in the Case Study template
- 27. Connecting Academics and Experience
- 28. Case Study Feedback & Assessment Element Feedback/Points Topic & Focus • The topic clearly emerges from the author’s professional interest and/or an unresolved question about learning. • The case focuses on a specific aspect of a learning event or resource. It goes beyond generalities by first describing the setting and then providing a thick description of one aspect of the experience (e.g. one module, one exercise within a workshop). Description of Learner & Setting • The documentation and “thick” description are comprehensive, providing the reader with a vivid picture and sufficient detail to understand the learning setting, interview, etc. • Quotes from the learner interview are meaningful, substantive, and directly relate to key ideas in the analysis. • Details in the interview and scenario provide insight into learning principles/theories, and conversely the learning principles/theories illuminate the case as a whole. Analysis • The learning principles and theories discussed directly relate to the learning scenario and learner interview. • There is evidence that the author took time to think deeply and reflect on his/her findings. In other words, the author gained insight from the process of documenting the case and perhaps even made an unanticipated discovery along the way. • Analysis references specific course materials, including citations in APA format.
- 29. Case Study Feedback & Assessment, Cont’d Element Feedback/Points Recommendations • Assessment and recommendations are grounded in the evidence (scenario, interview) and directly relate to relevant learning principles and theories. Multimodality • The case study is more than a segmented term paper. It goes beyond text-only to make effective use of media, color, and formatting, exemplifying best practice in multimedia design. Extra consideration will be given to cases that have a distinctive look and feel. • Images, interview excerpts, and videos add depth and substance to the case and are embedded whenever possible. The use of media in conjunction with text adds value to the meaning of the piece, providing the viewer with a memorable and substantive picture of the learner and the setting. • The case study includes a “trailer” that introduces viewers to the case and draws them in. It is ~3 minutes (no longer than 5) and is embedded on the top of the Case home page, directly below a 2-3 sentence overview. Writing and Consideration of Audience • The opening page sparks interest and entices the viewer in, yet also provides a concise overview of the case and its purpose. The case is written with a public readership in mind. • A reader can make sense of the case if they experience it non-linearly as well as linearly. • The writing is clear, grammatically correct, and uses APA format for citations and references.
- 30. Matthews-DeNatale, G., Poklop, L. (2015). Making Student Learning Visible: Using Concept Map Analysis as an Assessment Tool Does student work indicate increased expertise? Are some areas of development more prominent than others? OEL Course Impact
- 31. How many markers of experiential and high impact learning did you note in the preceding example? Is there anything you observed that isn’t included in the HIP list? Are there items you would add to the list of high impact practices?
- 32. A Transformational Approach Dr. Ruben Puentedura (2012) The SAMR Model: Background and Exemplars. EnhancementTransformation
- 33. OEL Proposition Students should be perceived as producers, not just content consumers. Faculty help activate and guide students’ production process. Redefinition: Opens up new opportunities, previously inconceivable
- 34. Redefinition: Opens up new opportunities, previously inconceivable Producer-oriented approach to online experiential learning: •Work on problems that haven’t been fully solved or questions that haven’t been fully answered. •Share work with others, not just their instructor •Have a degree of autonomy in their work Dr. Derek Bruff (2013) Students as Producers.
- 35. Multimodal Digital Learning Opportunities • Document progress to save, share, and compare work • Revise and iteratively improve final work • Integrate and embed past experiences in present work • Encourage multidimensional cognitive connections • Express and visualize complex ideas • Connect formal and non-formal learning • Increase the perceived value and authenticity of work
- 36. “Any discussion of the digital opportunity to reinvent education that begins with technology is doomed to a diminished vision of learning … Exploring the digital opportunity for higher learning is to pose the most important design question of our time: What forms of education are only possible now at this moment in history?” (Bass and Eynon, 2015) “Any discussion of the digital opportunity to reinvent education that begins with technology is doomed to a diminished vision of learning … Exploring the digital opportunity for higher learning is to pose the most important design question of our time: What forms of education are only possible now at this moment in history?” (Bass and Eynon, 2015)
- 37. Change as Gain • Identify ways your perspective has changed or grown • How can experiential online learning enhance the student experience? • What aspects of this presentation are relevant to your teaching, program, or institution?
- 38. References Bass, R. . (2012) Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Education. Educause Review. 47(2), 23-33. Bass, R., Eynon, B. (forthcoming). Liberal education re-bound :The digital opportunity for higher learning. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities. Bruff, D. (2013) . Students as Producers. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/09/students-as-producers-an-introduction Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities. Lewis, L.H. & Williams, C.J. (1994). In Jackson, L. & Caffarella, R.S. (Eds.). Experiential Learning: A New Approach (pp. 5-16). San Francisco: Jossey- Bass. Matthews-DeNatale, G., Poklop, L. (2015). Making Student Learning Visible: Using Concept Map Analysis as an Assessment Tool. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/gmdenatale/making-student-learning-visible-using-concept-map-analysis-as-an-assessment-tool Moore, E. T. (2013). Applying the Kolb experiential learning model (ELM) to distance learning. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/applying-the-kolb-experiential-learning-model-elm-to-distance-learning Puentedura, R. (2012). The SAMR Model: Background and Exemplars. Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2012/08/23/SAMR_BackgroundExemplars.pdf Ritchhart, R., Perkins, D. (2008). Making Thinking Visible. Educational Leadership. 65(5), 57-61.
Editor's Notes
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- NOTE: This slide has a build – click three times to cover all the questions. What did you change? What does that tell you about how you think about change? When you think about online learning, what do you focus on (e.g., loss or opportunity)?
- In this session we will focus on one specific area of change in higher education: how we approach what we are doing as educators in regard to student learning, how the institution as a whole thinks about that aspect of its mission, and the role that the experiential design of learning experiences can play in furthering the learning mission. As Randy Bass of Georgetown University notes, the recent shift away from a focus on inputs (what we teach) toward outcomes (what students learn) is challenging us to take a learning design-driven approach to course and program development. This challenges us to expand the way we think about what we do, and to change our practice accordingly. Now I’ll hand it over to Ellen.
- NEU’s Co-op model originated at the undergraduate level and focused most resources to serve that population. In 2008 CPS started building out co-ops for grad student population, still the traditional model (Full-time, face to face 3-6 months). Now XXX of our students are considered “online” (taking 80% or more of classes online). In 2013 we took on the challenge to offer EL opportunities to adult online learners – this included building out ways where students could use their existing workplaces to do project based work using skills they were developing in their graduate degrees. Now we are piloting shorter virtual projects. Challenges we face: The notion of the employer site visit/building sustainable relationships with employers Determining accountability. Is it our responsibility to enforce more in virtual than in a f2f role? Attendance Is it our role? Workplace norm/expectations What are they? Adapting preparation course How do we prepare students? Making sure they have technology, self-directed learning goals, organizational skills, check in protocol with supervisor and colleagues, networking opportunities
- Supporting students who are doing co-ops and internships with companion online courses allows us to expand the population who can engage in experiential learning, set up content that is relevant to the experience they are having in real time and capture data from each student along the way. This slide is from a course we teach for students who are doing a co-op like experience at their own workplace. These knowledge checks allow faculty to track what concepts students are struggling with. Before we delve into providing an in depth example of how CPS approached experiential learning for online learners in the context of one course, let’s first spell out what experiential means to us from a learning perspective. (Mamta)
- Thanks Ellen. Let’s take a look at our online core design principles based on experiential learning definition and model, in the context of online tools and pedagogy.
- The classic Kolb’s (1984) definition lays the foundation for the principles, field-based or classroom-based experiential learning. Our goal is to leverage technology to design an online learning space where experiences are tailored for such knowledge-creation.
- I would like you to: Think about an online learning experience that you are familiar with that you created or participated in as a designer or learner or facilitator Use the classic Kolb’s model-the learning steps you see here-as a context for designing the learning experience Consider the potential created by the online platform to translate these steps into learning experiences in the following examples
- This is a sample of an interactive lecture created by an online design tool called Storyline to present abstract concepts in a concrete multimodal rich format (text, visual, video/audio) to allow for higher level of engagement: a multimodal experience.
- This is an animated problem-based or role-play scenario with many learning steps. Concrete experience: The online platform is more affordable from a design perspective in terms of effort and time required to create concrete experiences and sometimes the ONLY platform to create experiences that are accessible to ALL learners in a given class based on their learning preferences; in other words offer many variations of the same experience within the same class. It allows us to engage learners in ways that has not been possible with traditional delivery models. Abstract conceptualization: The platform allows us to create mediums and venues that incorporates enhanced opportunities for building concepts within a highly engaging and multisensory learning environment.
- This is a sample ePortfolio page from a learner’s reflection in a course in the EDU program- you can see the integrated design of the template made possible in an online platform which allows for richer connections and integrative learning for learners as they can see their learning holistically within the program and share it with the peers and people outside the classroom. Reflective observation: The platform helps us design learning spaces where learners can look at their own learning as an integrated whole and make connections across courses and their work experiences.
- This is a sample of an interactive lecture created online. It allows for the learner to reflect and test theories and get immediate corrective feedback as they are going through the content or material. Consider the self-checks built within an online interactive lesson in light of a safe space to make mistakes and test assumptions or learning before being assessed for learning. Consider the ease of creating these experiences, participating in these experiences, or tracking learning via these experiences to find out if learning really took place for a learner or ALL learners in the context of established outcomes or competencies within a course or a program or the university. Reflective observation on learned material. Abstract conceptualization: The platform allows us to create learning environment that can identify mistakes real-time and adapt the learning path for individual learner. Consider the benefits of technology in the context of creating adaptive learning experiences for different learners within the same classroom.
- This is a screenshot from an online simulation GLO-BUS, a major assessment in an online capstone course where learners work in teams to run a digital camera company in head-to-head competition against companies run by other class members. The goal is to successfully operate a multi-product firm in the international environment. Learners learn strategic planning and real-world skills, like teamwork and communication, in an engaging online space where they can make mistakes and get a global experience that may have otherwise not been possible without a field-based or internship experience. Concrete experience of a real world scenario. Active experimentation: We are able to design engaging multimodal assignments and assessments and offer wider range of situations and scenarios where learners can use their learned knowledge and skills and apply them regardless of where they are in the globe-crossing geographical boundaries.
- These are just few examples to help connect the experiential learning steps with the kinds of online experiences afforded by the online platform that allows for the enhancement of these experiences from all aspects: designing, learning, facilitating, and tracking or assessing learning.
- These are our core online design principles. I would like you consider the principles in the context of the examples we just looked at and Kolb’s model: PO-Course content is organized into smaller segments or ‘chunks’ of learning. It is consistently presented, and purposefully designed and sequenced to maximize learning. (interactive lectures or ePortfolios or self-checks: multimodal/engaging/integrated whole for meaningful connections across the learning experience) PK-Appropriate application of prior knowledge can facilitate learning. DM-Mastery requires designed opportunities for acquisition, integration and appropriate application of skills. GDP-Students need regular and appropriate formative and summative feedback loops to inform progress and gaps and support learning acquisition FP-Students need regular and appropriate formative and summative feedback loops to inform progress and gaps and support learning acquisition. interactive lectures/self checks/analytics/adaptive design-opportunities for formative assessment and self-assessment and adjust learning real-time EL-Application of real-world or meaningful activities to meet learning objectives. Opportunities for meaningful interactivity with content, peers and external community. Activities designed to encourage reflection. Promotion of interdisciplinary skills, i.e., critical thinking, problem-solving, applying abstractions and developed skills to novel situations in a real-world context. Simulations, ePortfolios- integrated/connection with real world and community CC-Course is designed to encourage constructive collaboration that supports learning objectives and builds community. Online blogs, wikis, discussion boards regardless of geographical barriers
- In terms of value added, we can see that the technology can increase the potential for and even the quality of designing, teaching, learning, and assessing learning. The platform helped us redefine the experience in a way that led to higher and stronger levels of student engagement and collaboration in a much richer context. One of the greatest benefit afforded by this platform is the ability to track learning at the individual and group level to adjust the content and teaching not just after the fact but real time! Learning Analytics! The online platform lends itself nicely to the so called “ high impact practices.” Gail will speak to these practices and walk us through a case study that will demonstrate the incorporation of the HIPs in our experiential learning model.
- George Kuh of Indiana University is perhaps best known for his role in developing the National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE), which is administered at select colleges and universities to determine the impact of the institution’s practices on student engagement. As part of this project Kuh identified 10 “high impact practices” that have been demonstrated to increase student engagement. We’re mentioning his work because high impact practices were referenced in the call for proposals for this conference, but also to consider the ways the online learning can enhance and support high impact (or high impact-like) practices.
- Kolb’s model of experiential learning describes the types of engagement that leads to student growth and development. George Kuh’s list of High Impact Practices runs these ideas to ground with specific examples of student experiences that have been demonstrated to increase student engagement and learning. Most of these practices are very specific to undergraduate education, such as “first year experience” courses, but we believe that graduate programs should also consider opportunities for integrating these types of work into post-baccalaureate learning. Many of the HIPs are relevant for all disciplines and degrees. This includes collaborative work, primary research, experiences that provide students with lots of opportunities to express and improve their communication, such as writing-intensive courses.
- In a few minutes I’m going to walk you through one of our most successful online experiential learning courses, and I’d like you to look for markers of Kolb experiential learning engagement, and also for practices that are similar to (or resonate with) High Impact Practices.
- Ron Ritchhart and David Perkins from Harvard’s Project Zero note that “When learners speak, write, or draw their ideas, they deepen their cognition.” The online learning environment creates unprecedented opportunities for making experiential learning visible. How People Learn demonstrates how Northeastern embraces those opportunities in one online course. As an aside, note that technology made it possible for me to help students visualize larger themes in their work as a group. In this example I input the text from students’ papers into Wordle to create a word cloud, providing them with a higher level perspective on the themes in their work.
- The course begins on the first day with an exercise in which students use technology to take stock of their prior knowledge and visualize their assumptions about learning. We can’t challenge or change what we haven’t identified, and this exercise helps students make their thinking visible. This also provides us with something they can revisit later in the course to consider how their thinking has changed. After they’ve submitted their maps they are able to access the first week’s readings and see the maps created by their peers. This helps them focus on their prior knowledge before getting into the perspectives of peers and subject matter experts.
- The first half of the course is devoted to intensive reading, viewing, and discussion of the theory and science of learning. In the second half of the course they conduct primary research to create a multimodal case study. They identify and document a learning experience. We encourage them to think expansively about the contexts in which people learn. [3 clicks!] These three case study topics demonstrate the breadth and creativity of their choices: a community boating course, a fully online writing course for nursing students, and a professional certification workshop that took place in a fire station. Students document the experience through words, audio, video, and images. The documentation process is writing intensive and also involves an in-depth interview with a learner. With permission, they also gather work samples, syllabi, and other artifacts. The materials are compiled in a project portfolio that allows students to embed these materials so that they display directly within the web page. Video clips are presented alongside transcripts, photo galleries present collections of images that illustrate the experience, etc. The students then analyze their documentation, using the readings and materials from the first half of the course as a lens for interpretation. This provides an experiential opportunity to apply what they’ve learned and use the course reading as a lens for interpreting and evaluating the learning that takes place in everyday life.
- In the last slide you saw three cases that are visually distinctive and different. But all students begin with an online template that is illustrated above. We use ePortfolio software (Digication) and each page in the template has embedded prompts to guide and scaffold the student’s process of content development and spur them to take their week to a deeper level. Each of the links above leads to a different section of the site, and the links in the left-hand column lead to sub-sections. The students work on one section per week, and share their work at the end of each week to receive peer and instructor feedback. This gives them an opportunity to improve their work iteratively, for the instructor to intervene if a student isn’t progressing, and builds excitement as the case becomes increasingly “real.” They are strongly encouraged to customize the look and feel of their cases, which was amply demonstrated in the previous slide.
- We recently checked the course learning analytics (records of materials that the students have accessed). We discovered that when students began their work on the analysis phase of the case study, there was a dramatic uptick in access to materials and presentations that they had viewed earlier in the course. The multimodal case development process prompts them to take a deeper look at the course readings. The online learning environments allows us to see what they have revisited, providing us with a deeper understanding of the course content that they find most relevant to their case. This provides us with an opportunity to reinforce those choices, or to also call their attention to relevant readings and concepts they might have overlooked – to connect the dots.
- You may wonder how we go about assessing the work. We have developed a rubric that has many of the elements that you would expect to see in any evaluation instrument, such as “topic and focus.” This rubric is used as a formative tool to structure and improve the quality of peer feedback. At several junctures, the instructor and peers completes this “feedback form” and gives it to the student (without a grade, so that the focus is on opportunities for revision and improvement). This also helps us avoid the “good job” pitfall of peer feedback.
- Some of the criteria in the rubric are specific to the online experiential learning context, for example the effective use of media to improve communication and enhance depth. The students also create 2 minute “trailer” videos that they include on the top page, designed to draw the viewer in. This encourages them to expand their sense of audience beyond course readership.
- NOTE: this slide has a 3 phase build – click 3 times. The previous rubric demonstrates how an online assignment can be improved and assessed. What is our evidence that these OEL courses deepen and improve learning? Here’s one example. We wanted to know if the course was improving students’ conceptual understanding of how people learn. The point was not to have them regurgitate readings, but to articulate a conceptual model for how people learn in their own words. Remember the concept map from the first portion of the course? We have them revise (or completely redo) their map at Week 10 (two weeks prior to the end of the course). We developed a scoring instrument that looks at three dimensions. Content referenced, relationship between terms, and indication of a conceptual model. Here’s an example of a pre-post map that indicates significant conceptual development. Here’s the report on an analysis of two terms. It indicates that the students made significant progress in their conceptual understanding of how people learn, and many were able to depict their own conceptual model (such as the previous example)
- What do you see?
- Final thoughts on online experiential learning Describe the levels of SAMR Redefinition: We often think of online learning as an either-or, but the multimodal case study example demonstrates that the physical world can enhance the learning that’s taking place in the online world, and the online world can enhance the interpretation that the students make of their physical world experiences. It’s not an either-or, but a both-and.
- We propose that our approach to Online Experiential Learning is transformative and has the potential to redefine learning. Technology supports interaction and the use of content and tools to create original work that demonstrates growth and understanding. We often think of online learning as an either-or, but the multimodal case study example demonstrates that the physical world can enhance the learning that’s taking place in the online world, and the online world can enhance the interpretation that the students make of their physical world experiences.
- These are the hallmarks of online experiential learning Students are asked to work on problems that haven’t been fully solved or questions that haven’t been fully answered. Students are asked to share their work with others, not just their instructor. Students are given a degree of autonomy in their work.
- These are the affordances of online experiential learning Thinking across modalities encourages cognitive connections Representing and integrating work in multiple modes (image, audio, video, text) creates opportunities to express ideas that are difficult to communicate in text alone ePortfolio exists outside the course, making it easier to spot connections between courses and non-formal learning The digital environment is non-linear and embedded, making it easier to integrate previous experiences and materials into present work Ease of use in creating and editing, along with visual component representations encourages revisions and improves final work Digital environment facilitates storing, sharing, and comparing Ability to share with a school, professional, and/or public audience increases the sense of value and authenticity
- Let’s revisit our opening exercise in which we discussed the tendency of humans to perceive “change” through the lens of loss. One of the most important ideas of online experiential learning is that change can expand possibilities. Randy Bass reminds us of this when he encourages us to consider the forms of learning that are only possible in the present context. Assignments such as the multimodal case would not have been possible a decade ago. Who knows what other opportunities we can dream up if we focus on the possibilities and not on the limitations?