Standard 7: Setting expectations

Though simple on the face of it, ensuring that instructional materials help students master their learning outcomes involves removing extraneous material, intentionally observing for areas where students struggle and could use supplements, and ensuring that materials are appropriate to the course level within your program.

Checklist Items

7A

Alignment between course goals, student learning outcomes, instructional materials, and learning activities (both graded and ungraded) provides students with the purpose and importance of those materials and activities. In other words, it answers the question “why do we need to do this?” With today’s students, it is important to show these connections to help them understand how these materials and activities help them meet the course goals and learning outcomes. Students need to know why an activity, especially an ungraded activity is pertinent to their learning and not just “busy work”. Finally, in courses where purchased textbooks are required, students need to know why purchasing the text is important to their success in the course.

 Resources

  • Quality Matters 2.4 – “The relationship between learning objectives or competencies and learning activities is clearly stated.” Link

Examples

This is a module introduction from the CHEM 1212 Master Course developed by Janna Blum, Maureen Burkart, Victoria Mariani, Manuela Vanegas, and Danzhu Wang. Notice the Course Goals listed in the intro and how it is stated that they relate to the instructional materials and activities in the module.

This is a topic introduction from the CHEM 1212 Master Course developed by Janna Blum, Maureen Burkart, Victoria Mariani, Manuela Vanegas, and Danzhu Wang. Notice the module learning objectives associated with this topic and how they relate to the textbook.

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #1 – “Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning” (p. 4).
  • Principle #2 – “How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know” (p. 4).
  • Principle #3 – “Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn” (p. 5).

Learning Sciences Insights from Digital Promise and the Institute for Applied Neuroscience

  • Insight #2: Thinking deeply about the to-be-learned material helps students pay attention, build memories, and make meaning out of what they are learning. When students are invited to think deeply about the subject matter, they can better build strong memories. Deep thinking and a focus on making connections also allow students the time to make meaningful connections between the material, their own lives, and the world around them. When students see how the material relates to their lives and interests as well as other concepts they already know, they have frameworks for understanding the material more easily and can learn it more deeply.
  • Insight #2c: When presenting new material, ask students to identify and summarize important points, including their own perspectives on the ideas they selected. Invite them to discuss their ideas with a partner.
  • Insight #6: Students are more motivated to learn when they are interested, have a sense of autonomy, and understand the purpose behind what they are learning. The level of a student’s interest has been shown to be a powerful influence on learning. Additionally, when students have a sense of control over their own learning, and the opportunity to set goals that are not only personally meaningful but also have the potential to benefit the world, their intrinsic motivation improves. As a result, they are more likely to persist longer at academic tasks and to process information more deeply. Motivation does not replace the important foundational importance of helping a learner engage in behaviors that help them encode, consolidate, and retrieve memories. Likewise, engagement should be directed toward the actual material to be learned.
7B

According to Stavredes (2011), one of the most important forms of interaction in an online course is student-instructor interaction. Also, instructor presence in an online course is key to reducing transactional distance among students. One strategy to increase student engagement through instructor presence is through the display of enthusiasm for the topic or subject being taught. There are a variety of ways this can be done. Whether it is through the design of the course, regular announcements, timely feedback on assessments, or virtual office hours, conveying to the students that you prioritize them and the course goes a long way towards demonstrating enthusiasm.

 Resources

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #3 – “Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn” (p. 5).

Learning Sciences Insights from Digital Promise and the Institute for Applied Neuroscience

  • Insight #8: Collaboration and social interaction can be powerful learning experiences because they encourage deeper processing and engage the ‘social brain.’ Students are highly tuned to social dynamics and research shows that certain collaborative and relational interactions can drive learning. Harnessing this social drive in the classroom can take students further than they can go alone. Working collaboratively towards a common goal, rather than dividing a project into parts that can be done individually, encourages students to discuss, think about ideas they might not have considered, and learn more than they would if working individually.

Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching: Foundations and strategies for student success. Jossey-Bass.

7C

Any instructional material used in an online course should be deliberately selected, created, or curated with both the goals of the course and the educational career of the student in mind. Whether the course is part of a major/minor course of study or part of the general education requirements of all students, the materials in the course should, in some way, relate to the course and be applicable to the student beyond the digital environment. Familiarity with the role of the course within the program of study and the instructional materials in other courses within the program is a good start to achieving this standard. Also, reviewing institutional initiatives such as the GSU College to Career program can be beneficial in this endeavor.

Resources

  • Quality Matters 2.4 – “The relationship between learning objectives or competencies and learning activities is clearly stated.” Link
  • College to Career

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #1 – “Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning” (p. 4).
  • Principle #2 – “How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know” (p. 4).

Learning Sciences Insights from Digital Promise and the Institute for Applied Neuroscience

  • Insight #2: Thinking deeply about the to-be-learned material helps students pay attention, build memories, and make meaning out of what they are learning. When students are invited to think deeply about the subject matter, they can better build strong memories. Deep thinking and a focus on making connections also allow students the time to make meaningful connections between the material, their own lives, and the world around them. When students see how the material relates to their lives and interests as well as other concepts they already know, they have frameworks for understanding the material more easily and can learn it more deeply.
  • Insight #6: Students are more motivated to learn when they are interested, have a sense of autonomy, and understand the purpose behind what they are learning. The level of a student’s interest has been shown to be a powerful influence on learning. Additionally, when students have a sense of control over their own learning, and the opportunity to set goals that are not only personally meaningful but also have the potential to benefit the world, their intrinsic motivation improves. As a result, they are more likely to persist longer at academic tasks and to process information more deeply. Motivation does not replace the important foundational importance of helping a learner engage in behaviors that help them encode, consolidate, and retrieve memories. Likewise, engagement should be directed toward the actual material to be learned.
7D

One effective strategy in the development of a student-focused course that also allows the instructor to demonstrate enthusiasm for the course is the willingness to adjust instruction based on prior knowledge possessed by the students. To determine whether or not this prior knowledge exists is through the offering of low- or no-stakes pre-assessments at the beginning of each module or unit of instruction. Providing these formative assessment types also allows both students and the instructor the opportunity to identify areas of confusion or gaps in knowledge thus providing an opportunity to modify instruction and address these gaps before they become larger issues for students. These assessments can also identify areas where students are knowledgeable in the content and areas where less emphasis can be placed.

Resources

  • Quality Matters 2.4 – “The relationship between learning objectives or competencies and learning activities is clearly stated.” Link
  • Quality Matters 3.5 – “The course provides learners with multiple opportunities to track their learning progress with timely feedback” Link

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #1 – “Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning” (p. 4).

Fenton, C. & Watkins, B. W. (2010). Fluency in distance learning. Information Age Publishing.

Resources

7E

In the student-focused, digital classroom environment, faculty transition from the “sage on the stage” to more of a facilitator or mentor role. Through carefully selected instructional materials and learning activities, instructors help students along their selected path of learning. Along this path, instructors should include opportunities for students to reflect on the materials and activities selected and provide feedback on the course through surveys or other similar instruments. In turn, faculty should prioritize time to review this feedback, adjust instruction, and provide feedback to the students as needed.

Resources

  • Quality Matters 5.2 – “Learning activities provide opportunities for interaction that support active learning.” Link
  • Quality Matters 5.3 – “The instructor’s plan for interacting with learners during the course is clearly stated.” Link
  • Quality Matters 5.4 – “The requirements for learner interaction are clearly stated.” Link
  • Quality Matters 6.2 – ” Course tools promote learner engagement and active learning.” Link

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #2 – “How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know” (p. 4).
  • Principle #3 – “Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn” (p. 5).

Hastie, P., Rudisill, M. E., & Wadsworth, D. D. (2012). Providing students with voice and choice: Lessons from intervention research on autonomy-supportive climates in physical education. Sports, Education, and Society, 18(1), 38-56.

Learning Sciences Insights from Digital Promise and the Institute for Applied Neuroscience

  • Insight #2c: When presenting new material, ask students to identify and summarize important points, including their own perspective on the ideas they selected. Invite them to discuss their ideas with a partner.
  • Insight #8: Collaboration and social interaction can be powerful learning experiences because they encourage deeper processing and engage the ‘social brain.’ Students are highly tuned to social dynamics and research shows that certain collaborative and relational interactions can drive learning. Harnessing this social drive in the classroom can take students further than they can go alone. Working collaboratively towards a common goal, rather than dividing a project into parts that can be done individually, encourages students to discuss, think about ideas they might not have considered, and learn more than they would if working individually.
  • Insight #8a: Promote collaboration and exchange of ideas by structuring projects to require shared learning and co-creating rather than splitting tasks.

recommendations

R - 7.1

Pretests and quizzes, especially those that utilize objective-based questions (i.e., multiple-choice, true/false, and/or fill-in-the-blank) where there is one answer for each question are a great strategy to allow students to test their current knowledge of a topic in a low- or no-stakes format. The key to these assessments is building in substantial feedback, resources for remediation, or information on where and how that question would be addressed in the module of instruction. These assessment types can be built directly into the LMS, are graded immediately in the system, and provide the student with instant feedback. Surveys are another way that this can be done in a format that doesn’t require instant feedback. In both cases, however, student performance data is only valuable if the instructor reviews the submissions and adjusts instruction accordingly.

Resources

  • Quality Matters 2.4 – “The relationship between learning objectives or competencies and learning activities is clearly stated.” Link
  • Quality Matters 3.5 – “The course provides learners with multiple opportunities to track their learning progress with timely feedback” Link

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #1 – “Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning” (p. 4).

Fenton, C. & Watkins, B. W. (2010). Fluency in distance learning. Information Age Publishing.

R - 7.2

According to Spencer (2016), voice and choice are two of the best ways to engage and empower students in the digital environment. Additionally, this is a great strategy for providing students with control over their learning. For example, instead of telling students, they need to write 200 words on a specific prompt then telling them to reply to three peers (that are also addressing the same prompt), ask students to relate the reading to their lives and give them choice in how they present it to their peers. This is also an ideal strategy for incorporating collaboration into your classroom to enhance student-student and student-instructor interaction, thus reducing transactional distance. 

Resources

  • Quality Matters 5.2 – “Learning activities provide opportunities for interaction that support active learning.” Link
  • Quality Matters 5.3 – “The instructor’s plan for interacting with learners during the course is clearly stated.” Link
  • Quality Matters 5.4 – “The requirements for learner interaction are clearly stated.” Link
  • Quality Matters 6.2 – ” Course tools promote learner engagement and active learning.” Link

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #2 – “How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know” (p. 4).
  • Principle #3 – “Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn” (p. 5).

Learning Sciences Insights from Digital Promise and the Institute for Applied Neuroscience

  • Insight #2c: When presenting new material, ask students to identify and summarize important points, including their own perspective on the ideas they selected. Invite them to discuss their ideas with a partner.
  • Insight #8: Collaboration and social interaction can be powerful learning experiences because they encourage deeper processing and engage the ‘social brain.’ Students are highly tuned to social dynamics and research shows that certain collaborative and relational interactions can drive learning. Harnessing this social drive in the classroom can take students further than they can go alone. Working collaboratively towards a common goal, rather than dividing a project into parts that can be done individually, encourages students to discuss, think about ideas they might not have considered, and learn more than they would if working individually.
  • Insight #8a: Promote collaboration and exchange of ideas by structuring projects to require shared learning and co-creating rather than splitting tasks.

Spencer, J. (2016, September 27). 10 ways to empower students with choice. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/L08wNizulOY

R - 7.3

One of the easiest and most effective ways to demonstrate enthusiasm for a topic and engage with students is through module introduction videos. These videos can be formal or informal and should convey to the students your interest in their success in the module/unit of instruction and your excitement for them to learn the content. Only a few minutes in length, these videos should address the main concepts of the module, provide insight into the assessments for the module, and relate the content to prior learning and real life. These videos can be added directly to the module introductions within the LMS.

Resources

Examples

This is a screenshot from a video in one of my own courses. A direct link to the video is HERE.

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #3 – “Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn” (p. 5).

Learning Sciences Insights from Digital Promise and the Institute for Applied Neuroscience

  • Insight #8: Collaboration and social interaction can be powerful learning experiences because they encourage deeper processing and engage the ‘social brain.’ Students are highly tuned to social dynamics and research shows that certain collaborative and relational interactions can drive learning. Harnessing this social drive in the classroom can take students further than they can go alone. Working collaboratively towards a common goal, rather than dividing a project into parts that can be done individually, encourages students to discuss, think about ideas they might not have considered, and learn more than they would if working individually.

Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching: Foundations and strategies for student success. Jossey-Bass.

R - 7.4

Developing assignments and assessments that provide students with voice and choice over how they complete those assignments allow students to take control of their learning and allows for a more personalized learning experience. As stated by Hastie et al. (2012), “In general, autonomy-supportive teachers facilitate, whereas controlling teachers interfere with, the congruence between students’ self-determined inner motives and their classroom activity” (p. 38). By allowing students to select their path in learning, faculty promote autonomy in learning and the development of intrinsic motivation on the part of the student.

Resources

  • Quality Matters 5.2 – “Learning activities provide opportunities for interaction that support active learning.” Link
  • Quality Matters 5.3 – “The instructor’s plan for interacting with learners during the course is clearly stated.” Link
  • Quality Matters 5.4 – “The requirements for learner interaction are clearly stated.” Link
  • Quality Matters 6.2 – ” Course tools promote learner engagement and active learning.” Link

Research

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

  • Principle #2 – “How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know” (p. 4).
  • Principle #3 – “Students’ motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn” (p. 5).

Hastie, P., Rudisill, M. E., & Wadsworth, D. D. (2012). Providing students with voice and choice: Lessons from intervention research on autonomy-supportive climates in physical education. Sports, Education, and Society, 18(1), 38-56.

Learning Sciences Insights from Digital Promise and the Institute for Applied Neuroscience

  • Insight #2c: When presenting new material, ask students to identify and summarize important points, including their own perspective on the ideas they selected. Invite them to discuss their ideas with a partner.
  • Insight #8: Collaboration and social interaction can be powerful learning experiences because they encourage deeper processing and engage the ‘social brain.’ Students are highly tuned to social dynamics and research shows that certain collaborative and relational interactions can drive learning. Harnessing this social drive in the classroom can take students further than they can go alone. Working collaboratively towards a common goal, rather than dividing a project into parts that can be done individually, encourages students to discuss, think about ideas they might not have considered, and learn more than they would if working individually.
  • Insight #8a: Promote collaboration and exchange of ideas by structuring projects to require shared learning and co-creating rather than splitting tasks.