Tonight Amada and I watched the Lilly 2022 session entitled “Combating “Study Sites” Through Engaging Assignment Re-Design” with presenters from Texas A&M. The presenters were part of a Faculty Learning Community to discuss engagement strategies. Presenters included Joyce Juntune (Instructional Professor at Texas A&M), Suzanna Ramos (Assistant Lecturer at A&M), Hector Ramos Garcimartin (Lecturer at A&M), Sarah McCorkle (Clinical Assistant Professor at A&M), and Erinn Whiteside (Clinical Assistant Professor at A&M). They discussed a hypothetical student and their contributions to Course Hero, for example, after taking a course to obtain tokens to retrieve new knowledge. They mentioned this was passive whereas another student may intentionally search for and archive materials. The work from this group was inspired by McCabe’s 20-60-20 rule with 20% active & intentional, 60% passive & opportunistic, and 20% not contributing to study sites. The presenters talked about assignment redesigns that aimed to deter students from uploading assignments to study sites. Examples included moving worksheets to Padlet, embedded quizzes within videos using PlayPosit, or mind maps using Mural. Juntune then explained how they used Padlet to revamp worksheets. What a clever idea! Junetune starts with a Padlet wallpaper with sections for what is most important, somewhat important, and least important. Students create note posts with concepts and then move them to the priority areas. Juntune shared examples of student boards. They mentioned that “Responding in online formats lessens the possibility of students “copying” the work of previous students.” Suzanna Ramos spoke about using PlayPosit to include questions as part of videos. Ramos explained how PlayPosit interaction works and engages students. Ramos spoke about using Mural to transform teamwork. I have used Mural a little and also Miro boards. Ramos uses different directions and connections for learners to ask questions and address different levels of discussion. The examples shared included virtual back-and-forth discussions and reflection. Erinn Whiteside incorporated Flipgrid to replace online written discussions with students seeking certification. The videos allow for interaction with peers and help students get used to recording themselves based on a prompt and providing feedback to others. Interestingly, for the edTPA program video recordings are needed. Whiteside uses Flipgrid grading rubrics based on: engagement (5 points), for example. Whiteside suggested that students elaborate on “why?” They also explained relaying to students the significance of being professional and communicating. This session included helpful use cases. I will look into Mural a little more now!
