Since completing this course, I wasn't too sure HOW I'd put everything I wanted to do into practice. Somehow, I managed to make incremental improvements with each course I've taught.
Without being able to coerce students to attend a weekly live lab session with me, I had to find unique ways to feed them the information that they would have received in a one-on-one session to help them be successful.
Ironically, the curriculum for my course had to be updated, so I took the initiative of participating in this effort. Making improvements to the assignment instructions and some of the assignment questions, that small effort returned a significant increase in the average assignment scores! So, 'authoring' the assignments to ensure that each week's learning objectives are being met and retained proved successful immediately.
With that completed, my next task was to improve scaffolding tools. With so much information provided in the courseroom, I realized that students were having to dig for valuable information housed in presentations,etc. So, I created summaries of these learning tools and raised them up to the weekly student materials page so they can access them in a venue where they'll go to every week rather than hunt for it. I noticed that student's discussion posts and assignment entries were more thought provoking...which told me that they were actually reading, comprehending, and applying the information I was providing to them! YAY!! Another win toward providing a student-centered approach to online teaching.
With these efforts, my student retention rates have improved greatly. Now, what's next? How can I step this up a bit more??
Well, I've determined that I do not praise student's achievements enough. Even though the things they're doing (like submitting assignments or re-engaging in the classroom) are expected, sometimes kudos for these efforts should be recognized. This will be my way of providing additional and meaningful feedback to students. These kudos will hopefully encourage/inspire them to do more.
I can't wait to see how this all comes into play with my next class.
If anyone can offer additional suggestions or examples of what you've done to improve your student-centered approach to teaching online...I'd love to hear about it.
~ Nicole Williams
