Galloping COLTT UCCS

MATERIALS TO READ/VIEW PRIOR TO JUNTO

 Introduction of 3D Printing Technology in the Classroom for Visually Impared Students, Jo, Wonjin, et al., Practice Report. 

Understanding the graphical challenges faced by vision-impaired students in Australian universities

Questions to Consider
1. How can students with disabilities enrich your classroom in terms of the way you choose to present your material, your methods of engaging students and the way they are allowed to express their knowledge of the material?
2. How do you incorporate students with disabilities in your class?  Have you been successful?
3. How can our campus community better prepare for students with disabilities enrolling in our classes? 
 

Junto Lead

Steve Jennings is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis and has taught at the University of Oregon and Texas A&M University prior to coming to UCCS in 1997.  One highlight of his career is receiving a Fulbright Award to teach in Latvia in 2007.  Since 2008 he has been one of the coordinators of the Colorado Geographic Alliance, a National Geographic funded organization that helps Colorado K-12 teachers improve their geography teaching. 

MATERIALS TO READ/VIEW PRIOR TO JUNTO
Establishing a Culture of Assessment by Wendy F. Weiner
https://www.aaup.org/article/establishing-culture-assessment#.V9BoRZMrKgw
Describes fifteen elements needed to achieve a culture of assessment
 
Additional Materials:
Building a Scholarship of Assessment by Trudy W. Banta & Associates​
This book traces the history and status of assessment at the time of publication (2002) and examines the theoretical foundations of assessment, methods of assessment, and characteristics of effective outcomes assessment.
 
The Faculty Factor: Reassessing the American Academy in a Turbulent Era by Martin J. Finkelstein, Valerie Martin Conley, and Jack H. Schuster
Using the tools of sociology, anthropology, and demography, the book charts the impact of waves of technological change, mass globalization, and the severe financial constraints of the last decade to show the impact on the lives and careers of those who teach in higher education. ​
 

Questions to Consider
1.  What is the assessment movement?  What are its origins?  What’s the current status?
2.  What does it mean to have a culture of assessment?
3.  What does faculty work look like in a culture of assessment?
4.  How do we provide appropriate supports to cultivate a culture of assessment?

Junto Lead

Dr. Valerie Martin Conley, Dean of the College of Education, is a nationally recognized University administrator, higher education researcher, author, and professor. With an M.A. and B.A. in Sociology from the University of Virginia, and the Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Virginia Tech, she served as Chair for the Department of Counseling and Higher Education at Ohio University where she also taught courses on institutional research, assessment, management of higher education and policy. Dean Conley has specialized in quantitative applications for educational policy and research, drawing upon her experience as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). A former institutional researcher, she has served on the board of directors for the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) and chaired the association's Higher Education Data Policy Committee. In June 2007, she received the Ohio University Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award.

MATERIALS TO READ/VIEW PRIOR TO JUNTO

 Schwegler, A. F., & Altman, B. W. (2015).  Analysis of Peer Review Comments: QM Recommendation and Feedback Intervention Theory, American Journal of Distance Education, 29, 186-197.

 Cobb, K. L., Billings, D. M., Mays, R. M., & Canty-Mitchell, J. (2001).  Peer Review of Teaching in Web-Based Courses in Nursing.  Nurse Educator, 26, 274-279. 

Additional Materials

Official Web site of Quality Matters - Information on the higher education rubric, their programs, their training, and how to become a certified Peer Reviewer

Questions to Consider

1. How does a skeptic look at the process of peer review?  Why do we think faculty may resist the idea of having peer reviewers examine their course?

2. What is it like being a peer review for another’s online course?  What is the process of giving feedback to another faculty member?  What do you learn from reviewing another course?

3. What is it like having a course reviewed by another faculty member?  Is the skeptic’s view justified?  What is the intrinsic value to having your course reviewed by a team of “experts?”

4. How does the Quality Matters™ program work at UCCS?  How does this program promote growth for peer reviewers and program participants? 

Junto Lead

Scott Switzer is an Instructional Designer in the Faculty Resource Center (FRC) at UCCS.  Scott has an interesting mix of experience, working for over 25 years in the Federal, State, and private sectors.  His experience ranges from serving as the former Visual Information Manager for NORAD / USSPACECOM to teaching in Master’s programs at UCCS and UC-Denver since 1996.  He has designed coursework for Lucent Technologies, Avaya Communication, Lockheed-Martin Systems, and eBay, among others.  Scott is currently the co-creator and a facilitator in the Teaching Online Certificate Program and the Online Facilitation Certificate Program, both offered by the FRC.

Presentation Slides:  

MATERIALS TO REVIEW PRIOR TO JUNTO

1. What is UX? (video)
Short video offering clear a definition of User Experience (UX) from the man (Donald Norman) who is credited with creating the field. We'll use this definition to help us think about how we might define a Learner’s Experience (LX).

2. Think Aloud Protocol Usability Video
Video example of usability testing. Two volunteers "talk aloud" about what they want to do as they first log into a new class in Blackboard, and navigate within the course shell. This kind of usability testing is one way an instructor might test their own class for ease-of-use, navigation and organization of content.

3. Student experiences in online courses
 
Short study framing a general question: How do students describe their online learning experiences? Findings focus on five recurring themes, including the ability to balance school and life, time management skills, acceptance of personal responsibility, instructor (in)accessibility, and connection with peers.

4. Student barriers to online learning
 
Building on the qualitative analysis information, this large scale analysis offers valuable insight into eight areas that warrant further attention. To enhance outcomes in online courses, we must be aware of students’ unique challenges in this environment.  

5. Online hybrid enrollment and performance
 
In a five-year longitudinal study of community college students, researchers found that technical difficulties are particularly significant for “low income and [academically] unprepared students, particularly at the undergraduate level." Authors offer specific recommendations to  address some of these issues. 

Additional Materials

1. Is your online course user-friendly?
 
Short article discussing benefits of user-testing an online course with quick description of how one might complete a think-aloud usability test to gain actionable feedback to drive course revision

2. User Experience: Moving From “User” to “Learner” (blog)
Blog explaining the difference between UX and LX, as well as the consideration both fields offer to their respective audiences (learners and users navigating digitally-mediated experiences)

Questions to Consider

1. How might a deeper understanding of our learners' experiences offer opportunities to modify our current approaches to online learning, both system-wide and within the classroom?

2. How can we do a better job learning about students’ experiences and use this data to make changes that help everyone (students, instructors, other stakeholders) have a better experience?

3. How does your experience in the online environment, and that of your students, compare to any of the issues and challenges presented in the provided resources? 

Junto Lead

Baye Herald is the Co-director of the Professional and Technical Writing Program at UCCS, and a full-time online senior instructor. Baye holds a B.A. from Jacksonville University, FL in English and an M.A. from the University of Colorado at Denver in Composition and Rhetoric. Her teaching and learning interests focus on usability testing for online classrooms, the intersection of UX and LX, and quality in online education.