OWL Blog

Games and Learning at Excelsior College

2013-04-24T21:14:28Z

Contributed by David Seelow, PhD, Director of Writing and the Online Writing Lab, School of Liberal Arts, Excelsior College

This May 17th Excelsior College will host a major symposium entitled Games and the Curriculum: Toward a New Educational Model. You can attend this event online by registering at http://ecgaming.eventbrite.com/# or attending in person if you are on campus or in the Albany region. Game Based Learning has arrived and is here to stay. Let me just take a few moments to explain why this event is important and who you will hear from.

First, a symposium format offers a wonderful learning opportunity. In a symposium, distinguished and highly knowledgeable individuals gather in a single place to talk about a clearly defined topic for a set period of time. Luckily, technology now allows us to bring these experts across the globe and expand the potential audience and conversation. In essence, a symposium is a learned conversation with a give and take among the expert panelists. What emerges is often spontaneous and unexpected. Nothing is scripted in advance. Second, online learning has pushed traditional higher education to reconsider the long standing model of a professor lecturing to a largely passive class of students. For example, the ‘new’ flipped classroom allows professors to deliver a lecture online and devote the entire 90 minute of classroom time to hands on work with students. Regardless of the learning environment, students need to do something and have an impact. Games and simulations help students, indeed, force students into a very active and highly personalized learning experience. Yes, games are now nearly as popular as Hollywood movies, but they are better. A movie audience is a passive. A game player is active. When you play a game you perform actions that affect your trajectory. What’s even better, in a game, failure at a challenge does not result in an irretrievable and fatal “F”. You can get up and try again; learning from your mistake. Thus games provide a safe environment for learning, and contribute to what has been called mastery learning, i.e you don’t move forward on your learning path until you have mastered a particular stage on the road to a final outcome or successful course completion. In simulations and games students are placed in immersive environments that are authentic, but safe. The military has known this for a long time. Pilots learn, for example, by simulated flights. If they crash no one gets killed. Once they have mastered the skill, the pilot can fly a real plane on a real mission. In other words, simulations build real world competencies.

Let me make two other large interrelated points that validate the need for game based learning. Let’s begin with motivation. As I said above, games sell tremendously. They sell to all ages. People play games for hours. Psychologists attribute this to the release of dopamine, but, whatever the reason, motivation remains critical to success on any learning task whether losing weight or writing a good paper. We need to design curriculum that engages the student the way game design engage the player. What makes a game motivating? Without doubt, part of the answer is fun. We spend hours playing a game because the experience is fun. We enjoy playing even if the outcome is in doubt. In fact, I stink at golf and the desired outcome of shooting a par 72 represents an impossible dream at this stage of my life, but I still love to spend four hours on a Saturday playing golf. Think back to childhood. Most of us loved to play before entering the formal education system. Once we entered compulsory learning play was usually relegated to the play ground during recess; a respite from learning. Why not bring this element of fun into the classroom, both physical and virtual? It’s not hard to predict that if students enjoy learning they will probably perform better than if they find learning a chore.

I hope I have convinced you that games need to be a critical aspect of the future of learning. If not, I am sure our panelists will convince you. Let me say a brief word about each one and encourage you to come listen to these wonderful experts share their wisdom.

Clark Aldrich, Founder Clark Aldrich Designs-(http://www.clarkaldrichdesigns.com/).
Clark is a leading national force in online learning (e.g. Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction), the design of simulations, and a genuine voice of education reform (see the Unschooling Rules Project). Clark brings a national reputation to the symposium.

Jon Aleckson, CEO Web Courseworks Ltd.
Jon’s model of micro collaboration in MindMeld (http://www.mindmeldbook.com/) is a model for 21st century thinking. In online learning, collaboration is critical. The professor is no longer the be all and end all of the college learning experience. At Excelsior Colleges, our online courses require at a minimum the close collaboration of instructional designers, subject matter experts, and program directors. Jon brings us expert knowledge on collaboration around the development of games and other learning objects.

Ben Devane, Assistant Professor of Digital Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida, Academic Affairs Coordinator at the Digital Wolds Institute
A leader at the Digital Worlds Institute (DWI) (http://www.digitalworlds.ufl.edu/), Ben is a young innovator with many creative ideas. For instance, he currently runs a special project teaching middle school students programming skills used in game development. Ben has also been involved in a Gaming Against Plagiarism initiative (http://blogs.uflib.ufl.edu/gap/). In this initiative, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, librarians played a critical role in content development. Plagiarism is a national epidemic and an innovative approach to plagiarism prevention is something most people want to hear about.

Joey Lee, Assistant Professor of Communication-Computing-Technology in Education, Columbia University’s Teachers College
Dr. Lee teaches at Columbia University’s Teachers College in the Games Research Lab, the country’s premier teacher training college (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltASfvmmxZs). Dr. Lee leads two fascinating projects that employ games to teach real world problem solving skills. One project involves motivating students to become scientists and the other “greenify” project helps students use gamification skills to address climate change (see Gamifying Education at http://www.gamifyingeducation.org/about).

Tobi Saulnier, CEO 1st Playable Productions, LLC (http://1stplayable.com/)
Dr. Saulnier is a tremendous entrepreneur and leader of women in business. Tobi is currently working on a writing game for Excelsior College’s Online writing Lab (www.excelsior.edu/owl). This game will be housed on the OWL, but downloadable for mobile devices and integrated into a pilot study with five community colleges. This is a step toward the design of games to support the need for improvement in student writing across the country.

Lee Sheldon, Co-director of Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)- http://www.hass.rpi.edu/pl/gaming
Lee is a true pioneer in games and higher education. At Indiana University he first developed an entire course based upon a game. In other words the course is managed like a game. He has extended this work at RPI and recently published a tremendously innovative book entitled The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game (http://www.amazon.com/The-Multiplayer-Classroom-Designing-Coursework/dp/1435458443).

As you can see, this is an exciting group of speakers, so please join us on May 17th and contribute to the evolving conversation on games and education.

Young Adult Fiction and Reader Motivation in the College Classroom

2013-02-21T13:57:03Z

Contributed by Mary Firestone

Last year, when my students filed into my Contemporary Literature class with their Norton Anthologies, they complained about how heavy the textbooks were.

Soon though, the real story came out. “Is this the only textbook for the class?” one student wailed. “I thought this was a contemporary literature course! Some of these stories are over a hundred years old!” One by one, they chimed in. They weren’t just concerned. They were pleading for mercy.

Granted, these students were not English majors, and the course was the last humanities course available to them, since they’d put it off until the end of their program. Not the most enthusiastic students of literature.

Keeping them interested in the class was a high priority, of course, but I also didn’t want to sacrifice the depth I was sure they’d appreciate if they gave the Norton a chance. I recalled my son’s high school English teacher who faced a similar problem of low interest, especially among boys. His solution? He created a course called “Guys’ Lit.” The students, all boys, read what boys usually like, including graphic novels, such as Maus and American Born Chinese. All the material had challenging cultural themes of oppression, politics, and racial stereotypes. A course blog was set up and the boys posted opinions and ideas, based on teacher prompts. My son wouldn’t come right out and admit that he enjoyed the class, but it was the first time he didn’t complain about the boring books they had to read for English!

“Okay,” I said to my college students. Thinking of my son’s experience with “Guys’ Lit” I went out on a limb. “What would you like to read?” Blank stares. A few hands went up offering suggestions, such as the Twilight series and Stieg Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Groans were followed by more ideas.

Finally, I said, “How about The Hunger Games?” This was one that most could agree on.

We began with the first novel in the three-book series. Lively discussions each week were followed by essays focusing on how The Hunger Games relates/compares to today’s problems and culture. The unit was followed by stories from the Norton with similar themes of cultural and economic oppression.

Union College Nebraska professors Jill Morstad and Tanya Cochran also used the novel in their English 100 composition courses. In an interview with reporter Micah Mertes for the Lincoln Journal Star, they said, “We wanted to choose something that the students would read, but something that would provide a springboard for critical thinking, for college-level conversation. We knew this book would be compelling to read, whether they loved it or hated it.”

They also noted that before reading The Hunger Games, some students had only read a whole novel once or twice in their lives. This was true for a few of my students, as well.

There’s no mystery about the attraction of YA texts like The Hunger Games; it’s just good storytelling. In the college classroom, YA novels like these can pave the way to higher levels of thinking, and hopefully higher forms of literary art.

Works Cited
Mertes, Micah. “Union College heads to the 'Hunger Games’ for English 100 course.” Journal Star. 2 Nov. 2011

Attending the Aspen Institute 2012: Citizenship in the American and Global Polity

2012-11-30T14:59:59Z

Contributed by Dr. Constance Cramer, faculty member in the undergraduate Humanities and Arts program and the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, School of Liberal Arts

The drive to the Maryland Shore last summer seemed overly long. As we passed cow pastures, irrigation ditches and endless groves of trees, I found myself meditating on the promise of the coming week. I was eager to reach the Aspen Institute’s Wye River Center and to meet the other participants in this year’s faculty seminar on “Citizenship in the American and Global Polity.” Designed to facilitate collective exchange and individual reflection across disciplines on the role of the humanities and social sciences in addressing current political and social realities, the program was sure to be energizing and thought provoking. It did not disappoint. We had been provided with a hefty reader containing selections from Plato to Ralph Ellison to Martha Nussbaum to Amartya Sen. Every morning, with coffee in hand, we each summoned patience and acceptance of a multiplicity of viewpoints and jumped in with both feet. Many of us were familiar with the readings and hardwired for a certain interpretation and comfortable angle on how the material fit into our disciplinary silos. Thus, the real challenge was to be open to the experience of re-reading, and listening to others as they, too, were reading with new eyes. (T.S. Eliot’s line kept cropping up for me: “We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." How true this is if we are to stay awake and invigorated in the world of academia.) “Do these ideas make sense?” “What is the source of their durability?” “Why are we reading these selections and not others?” “What resonates for each of us, and why?” “What seems outdated? impossible? idealistic? dangerous?” We grappled with how to address these questions fruitfully and rigorously in our own teaching, and to guide our students to navigate a most difficult and yet promising historical moment. We found ourselves often returning to the ground of our immediate, local environments—our lived realities with colleagues and respective institutions—as we imagined how to make meaningful the idea of citizenship. It was intense, and intensely stimulating, to participate in such a sustained dialog over seven days—and humbling, too. Thankfully, we were able to shift gears in the afternoon, either seeking private ground or gathering in small groups to pursue an idea. In short, I came away from the seminar inspired by the rich intellectual bandwidth and insights offered by the other participants and their openness to alternative viewpoints. As an Excelsior faculty member, it was particularly instructive to hear a range of responses to the idea of online instruction. The general “problem” of technology was a thematic thread that surfaced in numerous contexts and discussions, yet many of the participants I spoke with had either taught online or were interested in doing so. It was also a great pleasure to spend the week in the company of David Seelow, and to be reminded of how fortunate we all are to be affiliated with an institution like Excelsior College.

Teaching with Comics

2012-12-14T18:31:48Z

Contributed by Beth Davies-Stofka, Ph.D.

It’s fair to say that higher education vastly prefers the written word to the drawn picture. But are there good reasons for this preference? Isn’t a picture worth a thousand words? Perhaps the time has come to begin using comics as teaching tools. They possess a largely unacknowledged ability to deepen and extend student engagement in the college classroom.

A recently-published research study from Harvard psychologists Elinor Amit and Joshua Greene suggests that visual imagery (in the case of this study, mental pictures) plays a pivotal role in moral decision making (Amit & Greene, 2012). Put simply, when presented with a moral dilemma, we tend to resolve it using cost-benefit analysis. But as the wording of the dilemma is altered to include vivid imagery, we become more emotionally engaged in the dilemma. Amit and Greene’s research suggests that the deeper our emotional engagement with the dilemma, the more we turn to deontological judgments to resolve it.

As a professor of ethics, this research fascinates me. But as a teacher who is passionately interested in engaging students, all the way down to the very microfibers of their souls, I see a broader lesson here. Vivid imagery deepens emotional engagement. To use a buzzword that is nonetheless appealing: images are immersive. The wording of our lectures, assignments, and discussion topics can and should create mental pictures for students. But why not take the next step, and see what we can accomplish with actual pictures? Why not teach with comics?

Comics are loaded with promising uses which are as yet largely unexplored. Research interest into the pedagogical value of comics is increasing, and we can look forward to reliable science that will help inform our teaching decisions. But what we really need is teachers using comics in the classroom, and experiencing their potential first-hand. Teacher evaluation of comics is crucial, for the simple reason that teachers understand education.

The list of academically sound comics is growing in leaps and bounds. Do you teach humanities, ancient civilizations, or world literature? Why not add The Graphic Canon to your required reading? You’ll introduce your students to the great religious and secular literature of the world in ways that are funny, handsome, moving, disturbing, shocking, and always powerful. Just do this once, and see if they don’t become more deeply engaged in the most intricate puzzles of the human condition.

Do you teach political science? Develop a discussion around Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb. Is your field chemistry? Supplement all that troublesome memorization with The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry, which will bring dialogue and personality to elements and gases. No student will forget Princess Argon! How about conflict resolution? Assign Macedonia and ask your students to debate the usefulness of the Macedonian story for mediators in global hot spots. Is human trafficking in your curriculum? Then introduce this painful and emotionally difficult problem with Borderland and empower your students to talk about their feelings in ways that are both compassionate and constructive.

The list of classroom-ready comics appropriate to higher education grows longer every month. Comics have demonstrated the ability to grab students, draw them into the learning community, give shape and meaning to the subject matter of the course, and plant the seeds of lifelong learning. We just need to see more teachers avail themselves of these wonderful tools, and hopefully the research pointing us in this direction will quickly catch up.

Perhaps in a future blog post, I can tell you a bit about the pedagogical value of online comics creation tools. Meanwhile, I welcome dialogue about the use of comics in the classroom. If you don’t use comics in your classroom, why not?

References:

Amit, E., & Greene, J. (2012). You see, the ends don't justify the means: Visual imagery and moral judgment. Psychological Science, 23(8), 861-868. doi: 10.1177/0956797611434965

Archer, D., & Trusova, O. (2010). Borderland: Seven lives. Seven stories. As told by victims of human trafficking.. San Francisco: Archcomix.com. Preview: http://www.graphicvoices.com/#11685395949

Fetter-Vorm, J. (2012). Trinity: A graphic history of the first atomic bomb. New York: Hill and Wang. Preview:http://us.macmillan.com/book.aspx?isbn=9780809094684

Gonick, L., & Criddle, C. (2005). The cartoon guide to chemistry. New York: HarperCollins. Preview:http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060936778

Kick, R. (2012). The graphic canon, vol 1: From the Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare to Dangerous Liaisons. New York: Seven Stories Press. Preview: http://thegraphiccanon.wordpress.com/

Pekar, H., Roberson, H., & Piskor, E. (2007). Macedonia: What does it take to stop a war? New York: Villard. Preview:http://www.macedoniathebook.com/

The Examined Life

2012-09-28T17:10:13Z

Contributed by Dr. Tracy Caldwell, Program Director and Faculty Advisor, Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program

First I want to congratulate you on this wonderful accomplishment. I am honored to be able to speak to you briefly today on the benefits of the liberal arts education you have achieved and that is being celebrated by you today. It is an excellent time to reflect on your educational experiences, what you have learned and how you have grown over this journey.

A liberal arts education gives you a broader vision and perspective and increases your ability to think both creatively and critically. It allows you to ponder your place in the world and the place of those around you. You study both commonalities and differences between people, societies and cultures. You make deeper connections with the world and people around you because this kind of knowledge feeds on itself you find yourself wanting to know more and do more, applying what you have gathered on your educational travels. You have explored important issues, events and discourse from various disciplinary perspectives. You have explored degree outcomes in critical thinking, communication, diversity and ethics. Your education has prepared you to form a solid moral compass—the article “A Liberal Education” From the University of California at Berkley notes: “No matter how advanced our society, we never lose the need to reflect on life, to distinguish good from evil, justice from injustice, and what is noble and beautiful from what is useful.”

I have benefitted immensely from my extensive liberal arts education and by work as a professor in several liberal arts colleges and universities. This training has shown itself in a variety of unique ways, often where I least expected it. Photography is one example. I always enjoyed “taking pictures” and did it a lot in college—simple pictures that documented parties or graduations, things meant for myself and a few close friends. They were simple candids without texture, thought, balance or beauty. They were utilitarian in nature. By my later 20s I had been exposed to a variety of approaches to looking at all things I considered important including art, literature, politics, history, I began to see things differently. The very way I looked through a lens was different in my academic, personal and photographic experiences. My pictures showed a different more complex reality. I saw beauty in the smallest thing—raindrop on a leaf, the swirls and loops of the wood grain in a fence—the half smile of a friend, a landscape. I learned composition balance and the ability to convey meaning in photography not from studying books on how to use my camera but rather from trial and error, from having a deeper perspective on life and on the people in it. I developed a fresh sense of wanting to communicate my own views to others, to express my knowledge and perspective, to teach and to learn. As in my own education I learned the importance of storytelling; I use photographs as a means to tell a story.

Your own study exposed you to many disciplines and perspectives of the world and multiplied your vision. The landscape of the rest of your life is open and inviting, you will see more clearly and with greater depth
A strong liberal arts education teaches you how to think, how to learn and how to do. Each subject is its own unique contribution to your vision and to a shared vision. In your study of history, culture, sociology, philosophy, literature, ethics and the like there is a real sense of cross fertilization of ideas. This type of education enables you to become valuable workers, leaders and community members

Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan University notes

“it is no surprise that [liberal arts] graduates can be found disproportionately in leadership positions in politics, culture and the economy.”

Roth goes on to note, “Post secondary education should help students to discover what they love to do, to get better at it, and to develop the ability to continue learning so that they become agents of change -- not victims of it.

In a culture that often looks down upon a liberal arts education in favor of the more professionally focused degree, many important figures have reminded us of the benefits of a liberal arts education. In Steve Jobs’s famous recent speech he notes “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing”—Vivek Wadhwa professor at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University notes
“Steve Jobs taught the world that good engineering is important but that what matters the most is good design. You can teach artists how to use software and graphics tools, but it’s much harder to turn engineers into artists.”

A liberal arts education Influences you to be actively engaged with learning rather than be a passive receptacle for facts. A famous quote states “a mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be lit”—your liberal arts education has indeed lit that fire and it’s is my hope and wish for you that you continue to feed those flames and move further in your education in the liberal arts as you move forward through your journey as lifelong learners.

English Deficiency in America

2012-08-07T19:51:42Z

Contributed by Richard Wu, Associate Dean, School of Liberal Arts, Excelsior College

I came to this country from China in 1992, at the age of 35, too old to enact my Broca area and the related motor system to learn to speak English if I had not learned the language before. Fortunately I had. In fact I had a master degree in English from China. I felt lucky to be able to come to the U.S., where I could learn better standard English spoken and written in this country.

California was the state where I started my life in America. I never doubted the ability of Californians to use English in their daily lives but one day I got a surprise. I drove into a strange neighborhood in Los Angeles with my wife and my daughter. We lost our way and needed to ask for direction. I grabbed one young man passing by and was very polite: “Excuse me sir, can you tell me how to get back to Freeway 5?” There is no response, and on closer look, he was not a typical big nosed and sunken eyed Caucasian but a shy Latino. He blushed and stammered and started to murmur in Spanish. I spoke to him back in English and he kept shaking his head. The guy simply did not know a word of English. I became anxious and approached another elderly lady not far from him. The same thing happened. I tried no less than 5 people around without any luck: none of the people in that neighborhood seemed to speak English!

Soon I learned that the state name California is a Spanish word. San Jose should be read as San Hosay. San Joaquin should be San Huakeen. Monterey is not an English word. Hispanics make up more than 50% of the population in many rural towns in California…. So California has two languages: Spanish and English.
It can be insulting if you don’t speak Spanish in parts of California. If you look for jobs, bilingual is often a requirement. I tried to apply for one and was told that Chinese doesn’t count as a second language: they have altered the semantics of “bilingual” to mean English and Spanish only.

When I started tutoring English composition at Fresno State Learning Resource Center, I not only had Hispanic, Hmong, Laotian, Chinese, but also Caucasian students who could not write their papers in English and seriously needed help with sentence structures, thematic statement, punctuation, fragmental structures, run-on sentences, and dangling modifiers. College students by and large don’t know English grammar. Even for the simplest grammar rule, such as the verb tense form “drive” vs. “drives” in

I drive.
You drive.
She drives.

no one I tutored knew why. I had to teach rules like simple present tense to all the students.

Today, as a college academic administrator and English composition instructor, I am fully aware that there is a serious English deficiency at many colleges in this country. I am very interested in helping students succeed in college, especially in their writing success, because writing is the most basic course to start college with. I am proud of our writing program at Excelsior College in being able to develop an On-line Writing Lab, which is open to public and can benefit all college students in this country.

Quality in Art

2012-06-04T14:31:54Z

Contributed by Laura Eklund

In his book, “The End of Art,” Arthur Danto suggests that we have entered an age of art without manifestos. He says there is no longer a dominant aesthetic school in Western Art. He points to the moment of Andy Warhol’s stacked Brillo boxes, as the beginning of “The End of Art.” What he means is the end of art without manifestos. In our era of art without “isms,” the question of quality becomes difficult to handle. If there isn’t a dominant standard to use in judging quality of art, how can we ascertain what quality is without a standard?

However, looking at a Rauschenberg ‘Combine’ alongside a painting by Grace Hartigan, you realize that there is such a thing as quality. The “quality” of each work may not be comparable but you cannot deny that the workmanship in both pieces is extraordinary. They are in different aesthetic realms. It may be that in these fractured times; each piece of art sets its own standard by which quality can be measured. If you think of each art piece as a proposal, then each art piece within its own aesthetic confines is setting up the “rules” by which it wants to be judged. The Rauschenberg says it is not trying to be the Mona Lisa or a Caravaggio or a Bill deKooning, but rather is saying, “Judge me by my Own Terms as a Whole, as a Complete Artwork. I am the means to my end.” And that judgment will follow an individualized aesthetic value by whosoever is looking at the piece. That judgment and aesthetic value will be placed in the context of life experience.

Hence, the quality of an artwork is determined on a subjective level.

One of my favorite quotes of an artist is the one I read in a December, 2005 Modern Painters, issue, where Robert Rauschenberg was being interviewed. Basically, I think he summed up the notion on which any artwork can be “judged.” It is actually very simple. I find it a very powerful, simple, and honest truth; one that which I honor and hold belief in as an artist.

“If it doesn’t change your life, it’s not art.” --- Robert Rauschenberg

How can I tell if I am looking at a great piece of artwork? I will be pulled in, stunned with directness, an immediacy that breaks down all my resistance. It is like the experience of theatre or music. You can feel it. You become completely involved in it, swept away. It becomes your reality. This becomes and is transformed into “experience.” Experience comes from aesthetic, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual realms. If you can experience an artwork and become involved, if it is that powerful, then, in my opinion, you are beholding a great piece of artwork.

I will talk of my experience some. When looking at great pieces of artwork, for instance, an El Greco, a Rembrandt, a Pollock, Edvard Munch, a DeKooning, a Rauschenberg, a Miro’, I have had many different reactions. Great art has made me feel lots of things. Pollock’s Autumn Rhythm has made me sob and moan. Great artworks have made me happy, ecstatic, pissed off, depressed and sad. Great artworks, “masterpieces” have engraved my brain and even given me nightmares. Great artworks have inspired me to want to contribute my own entity into the conversation and to bring what gifts I have into the world. Great artworks can, and do change your life.

Online Learning & Voice Recognition: Thwarting high percentages of plagiarism

2012-04-04T15:38:01Z

Contributed by Karen White - The reality of the fact, according to a recent Sloan-C survey performed by Allen & Seaman in 2010, is that “the growth rate for online enrollment (17%) continues to outpace the overall growth rate for enrollments in higher education (1.2%)” (Emphasis mine). Who would have ever thought it, based on the difficult naissance process online learning had with higher education over two decades ago? The very idea of having college students learn, let alone earn degrees, “at a distance” was not only mocked, but initially condemned. The technology just wasn’t there, nor was the imaginative inclination. Progressive minded pioneers, however, forged ahead with the concept—using basic discussion boards, designed with innovation, from electronic tools far removed from the courses designed today by such educational software platform companies as Blackboard. Throughout its infancy, online learning basically required the nurturing of increasingly savvy technological tools and from individuals who believed in and foresaw the next era of higher education.

Its journey into adolescence not only received the nurturing it needed, but, as a result, online learning was the predecessor of new types of growing pangs. New policies were needed. Courses had to implement equivalent components that traditional courses already had in place, and educational officials and administrators had to find new ways to incorporate quality assessment for the purposes of accreditation. Yet, after all of the typical teenage angst, online learning has proudly grown into a young adult that now faces a new development as a result of such growth. “This trend presents new challenges for protecting academic integrity, particularly in online courses where instructors cover large quantities of fact-based information and typically rely on multiple-choice assessments for measuring academic performance (Jordan, 2003; Trenholm, 2006).”

Online learning environments have acquired a bad rap for academic dishonesty of several forms—cheating through plagiarism with a high level of information taken directly from the Internet and enrolled students having others take courses in their names. The growth of technology has risen to the challenge of the former approach through the creation of such anti-plagiarism tools as turnitin.com., grammarly.com, and searchengines.com., yet educators still grapple with the latter practice. Just how do you know the registered student is who they really say they are?

Sure there’s lots of free online video pc software, but we can’t expect every online student to purchase a video camera for synchronous lesson responses, or own a laptop with a built-in camera for identity verification. Yet, nearly all of us can recognize voices. So I put it to the test. I found that asking students to record their Introductions at the start of a term and, then again, to provide a longer recorded critique or essay near the middle and end of the semester allows me to more closely discern that the voice of the student is the same. It doesn’t guarantee validity of a person’s identity, but voice recognition comes close to it. We can take it a step further and request that all discussion posts be audio-based attachments. It seems like such an easy solution to a major ongoing problem, but it still doesn’t serve as a sound panacea. Only consistently synchronized audio/video based online learning environments can mitigate cheating of any sort. I suspect that if made mandatory, at some point in time, the distance learning population would decline. Many students prefer and even enjoy the anonymity that online courses provide, but it should never be at the disgrace of an honor code or the extended trust of any accredited online program or its instructors and staff.

Asking students to make a sound pledge of allegiance to academic integrity is what Kent State University administration proposed in response to the plight of plagiarism. Students are asked to swear, cross their hearts, and adhere to a pledge that reads: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work (K-State Honor Pledge, 2008).” After studies of their students and cheating, administrators realized a good number of important things in their numbers, but most importantly, especially for students at a distance, that they need interventions that underscore that they “believe in the long-term good of the learners (LoSchiavo, Shatz 2011)” This acknowledgement stemmed from the results of studies that have found “lower-achieving students who identify more closely with the school tend to engage in less academic dishonesty (Finn & Frone, 2004),” and that “helping students feel more closely integrated to their university may head off some academic dishonesty (LoSchiavo, Shatz 2011).”

What better way to embrace our online students than by asking them to let us hear and believe in their voices?

Resources

Academic Integrity vs. Dishonesty: E-Learning Faculty Modules. Dec 2, 2011. Research about College Student Academic Dishonesty inOnline Classes Retrieved Mar. 15, 2012 from elearningfacultymodules.org

Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2010). Learning on demand: Online education in the United States, 2009. The Sloan Consortium. Retrieved February 1, 2012, from http://www.sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/pdf/learningondemand.pdf

Finn, K.V. & Frone, M.R. (2004). Academic performance and cheating: Moderating role of school identification and self-efficacy. The Journal of Educational Research: 97(3), 115 – 122.

Jordan, A. E. (2003). Implications of academic dishonesty for teaching in psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 30, 216-219. Retrieved Mar. 15, 2012 from
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no2/loschiavo_0611.htm

K-State Honor Pledge. Honor System. A Community of Integrity and Trust. Dec. 5, 2008. Retrieved Mar. 15, 2012 from
http://www.k-state.edu/honor/honorsystem/pledge.htm

LoSchiavo, Frank M., Mark A. Shatz. (June 2011) The Impact of an Honor Code on Cheating in Online Courses. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. Vol. 7, No. 2. Retrieved Mar. 15, 2012 from
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Trenholm, S. (2006). A review of cheating in fully asynchronous online courses: A math or fact-based course perspective. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 35, 281-300. Retrieved Mar. 15, 2012 from
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no2/loschiavo_0611.htm

Avoiding Plagiarism

2012-04-04T15:40:15Z

Contributed by Claire Bradin Siskin – All writing instructors sooner or later must grapple with the issue of plagiarism, and the problem is particularly acute for those who teach English Language Learners (ELLs). An online tutorial called “Avoiding Plagiarism” has been developed. It is one component of the English as a Second Language Writing Online Workshop (ESL-WOW). ESL-WOW is funded by a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) of the U.S. Department of Education. The project is sponsored by Excelsior College in Albany, NY.

“Avoiding Plagiarism” is designed to help college-level students understand what plagiarism is in the context of higher education in the United States, how plagiarism is detected, what the consequences might be, and, most importantly, how to avoid it. The focus is positive and practical.

In the “Welcome” section, the objectives are stated, and there is an optional quiz and introductory video. In the video, a student who has been notified that “unoriginal” text was detected in her work discusses the situation with a college administrator and finds out what her options are.

In the next section, “What is Plagiarism?” plagiarism is defined, and seven different types of plagiarism are listed. An example is given for each type.

Example 3: You pay another person or company for writing that you submit as your own writing.

In the “Consequences” section, the various outcomes of having plagiarized are given, such as being required to do the assignment again, receiving a zero on the assignment, or failing the course. Under “But in My “Country…” there is a discussion of American attitudes about plagiarism and the ownership of words. It is acknowledged that using others’ words may be viewed very differently in other countries, where in fact it may be seen as a sign of honor and respect. It is also recognized that plagiarism is a serious problem for American students as well as for international students.

The longest and most important section of the tutorial is “How to Avoid Plagiarism.” In a second video, the student and her professor discuss paraphrasing, summarizing, and correct citation.

A menu of choices includes how to cite sources, method of citation, and style of citation, paraphrasing, summarizing, and note-taking. A discussion of “common knowledge” refers to information that does not require citation. Numerous examples of appropriately summarized and paraphrased passages are provided as models, along with several interactive exercises. The “Test Your Knowledge” section includes a general quiz as well as an activity that asks students to examine various sentences and decide whether or not they need a citation. Additional resources include a glossary and links to YouTube videos about plagiarism.

More information is available at http://eslwow.org. All of the materials in ESL-WOW will available free of charge to the public by the end of 2012. If you would to be included on an email distribution list to receive occasional announcements about the project, please send your name, affiliation, and email address to info@eslwow.org.

Ensuring Student Success for a Positive Online Learning Experience

2012-01-03T19:10:23Z

Contributed by Errol Craig Sull -

It’s a mixed bag: what we pull together and offer our students to ensure they not only have a positive online learning experience but they continue to embrace and use beyond the course what they learned while in the course. Each online instructor has developed his or her own approaches that best work, no doubt – but how do we really know what works and what doesn’t? How many follow-up emails or phone calls or letters do we receive from students a month, 6 months, a year after they’ve left our class? Yet at least we can offer the students our best efforts and use those tried-and-true strategies that will result in that “Hey, this was a great class!” response from them and a hint that, yeah, at least a few students might be giving us that Holy Grail of teaching: employing what they learned from us throughout their lives.

Here’s how...

PERSONAL INTRODUCTIONS. By using the personal introductions of students an instructor can get to know his / her students better, thus allowing interaction with individual students in a more personal manner. Many students are suspicious, fearful, or intimidated in being taught “by a computer” – when they see the instructor is reaching out to them on a personal basis it helps establish a rapport between that instructor and the student; also, it helps put the student at ease.

CONSTANT PRESENCE IN THE CLASSROOM. When students see the instructor is very active and visible in the class – in discussion, in class postings, etc. – this is reassuring that instructor is real, is interested in the class, is there for individual students, and is available. This will have a big impact on student success because they know the instructor is around for questions and concerns AND it gives them a more positive feeling about being in the class.

TIMELY RESPONSE TO ALL STUDENT POSTINGS & ASSIGNMENTS. First, responding in a timely manner to student questions and concerns will keep students from being confused about this or that point; they will not have to wait on submitting or following through on an assignment that needs clarification from the instructor; and they will know the instructor as one who is an active and interested. It is also crucial the instructor give thorough and immediate feedback on all assignments so students can know how to improve and can go on to the next assignment in a timely manner.

BE CLEAR IN ALL “HOUSEKEEPING” ASPECTS. Grading criteria, all contact info, policy on late submissions, “netiquette,” and other such items need be clearly defined so there is a minimum of confusion later on in the class. As I have taught more classes over the years I have compiled an extended list of these based on student queries; posting these early in the class cuts down on student confusion and student emails asking about these items – a big timesaver for both student the instructor.

GIVE ASSIGNMENT FEEDBACK THAT IS POSITIVE AND HELPS THE STUDENT TO IMPROVE. Students must have feedback on assignments that lets them know how they are doing in the class (i.e., their grade), what they need do to improve, and what they are doing right. I give individual item feedback that is comprised of three parts: what is wrong, why it is wrong, and how it can be made right; I also will give positive feedback for individual points that are outstanding; and I always include an overall positive comment at the end of the assignment. And negative feedback is always couched in positive terms, i.e., “I’m showing you this to help you improve.”

SHARE TIPS, IDEAS, INFORMATION, PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES, ETC. TO MAKE THE STUDENTS FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE. All of these have one goal: to give additional understanding of the subject being discussed, written about, etc. Personal perspectives are especially helpful, including those of the students: it puts the subject matter in a “real life” context; it gets more students actively and enthusiastically involved in class, and creates a stronger rapport between the students and the online instructor.

USE CARTOONS, PUZZLES, QUIRKY INFO & ARTICLES, AND HUMOR TO HELP RELAX AND TEACH THE STUDENTS. These help ensure student success and add to their positive experience in two ways: [a] in a lighter or unusual manner they highlight and spotlight various aspects of the course, thus re-enforcing and strengthening the student learning; [b] the class is more exciting and enjoyable, thus helping to create a learning environment in which students want to participate.

BE VERY POSITIVE, I.E., LET STUDENTS KNOW YOU BELIEVE THEY WILL BE SUCCESSFUL, THEY WILL IMPROVE. Positive re-enforcement is important in any learning environment but especially so in the online classroom as there is no physical presence of the instructor and some students may be a bit tentative or hesitant about taking an online course. Reassuring the students of their capability to succeed, of improvement being most important, and of the instructor being thrilled they are in the class go a long way in building their confidence, making them feel more comfortable, and creating more enthusiasm for the course.

UNDERSTAND INDIVIDUAL STUDENT NEEDS, CONCERNS, LIMITATIONS, & PROBLEMS – AND RESPOND WITH FAIRNESS TO ALL. In an online classroom environment, where no student is physically seen, all students appear the same on the surface: a name, an email address, all in the same course, all with a student ID. But look deeper and, of course, each student is different – and such life factors as family, lifestyle, profession, student background, health, major personal events, and weather can have short- or long-term effects on how students respond to various components, policies, and procedures of the class. By working with the student so these factors can have a minimal impact on the student’s learning goes a long way in increasing student success and helping the student have a positive learning experience.

ABOVE ALL, BE ENTHUSIASTIC, FRIENDLY, & MOTIVATED – THERE ARE INFECTIOUS! While the nine previous items are crucial they really will amount to little if each is not infused with mega doses of sincere enthusiasm, friendliness, and motivation from me, the facilitator. If the instructor does not feel this and does not do this the students will quickly pick up on it, resulting in a less-than-successful learning experience. But if the online instructor does feel this and does offer this, and does so throughout the course, wow: this will ignite the entire course ... and the students’ right along with it!

Gender and the Arts

2012-01-05T15:55:14Z

Contributed by Dr. Victoria Schmidt -

Kathryn Bigelow is now the first female director to win an academy award! AND she is almost 60 years old AND she won for directing a war film… Was I dreaming? Oh how long women in film have been waiting for such a day but does this really mean anything? Have women come far in the industry?

First off ‘yes’ this does mean something, it means a ceiling was shattered. It means women do have stories to tell, stories that the masses will like. Women no longer have to tell ‘women’s stories’ they can work outside of their gender, in any genre and have it accepted, have it make $$$.

On the flip side it is still tough to pitch a script with a female lead. While attending film school we were told not to write female leads if we wanted to be successful in the industry. Which was strange because at the time Thelma and Louise had already done quite well much to the surprise of the industry suits. So while women are coming far behind the camera - women’s expression, their ways of telling a story, has a long way to go.

In fact isn’t it interesting that James Cameron’s film Avatar did not win? This film is very much a ‘holistic’ story, with what many consider to be female centered themes. This film was Cameron’s baby for a very long time so why are they not considered ‘men’s themes’? Perhaps men’s expression, their ways of telling a story, has a long way to go too.

Personally I love that both of these directors transcended their gender and made films close to their heart. Men as well as women should rejoice in this academy award event as if a pressure valve has been released. Let’s all allow our creative selves to shine and not worry about gender, box office, or ‘shoulds’. Ah, ignorance is bliss :) Any thoughts?

Here’s a link to an interview with one of my instructors at UCLA: http://ow.ly/1g7Bu

How is Music a Humanity?

2011-12-06T14:27:48Z

Contributed by Dr. Keith Thompson -

“The Arts” and “The Humanities” are linked together on many campuses and in the minds of many scholars. Is this merely a marriage of convenience, or is there a substantative relationship between these disciplines? When I ask students in my music appreciation course “How does music makes us more human?” they typically begin quoting lyrics from the latest popular love song, or a human rights protest song. Some even reference the “universal brotherhood” theme from Beethoven’s 9th symphony. I quickly point out that these are, indeed, all texts about the human condition, but that they have turned the discussion to poetry or literature, rather than music. Of course, poetry and literature are art forms that are also a part of the broad classification of “humanities” and quite capable of providing valuable insights into the human condition. I ask students if the music to which they referred were performed with texts in a language which they do not understand (as the Beethoven usually is) would the music cease to be “humanistic”? Did not Beethoven give us insights into what it means to be human in his other eight symphonies, which have no texts? How is music a humanity?

Susanne Langer had quite a bit to say about this in the mid-1900’s. In her opinion, one unique characteristic of humans is our ability to undergo a wide range of feelings. Langer carefully delineates feeling from emotions. For her, emotions are broad generalized states, but feelings are subtle, differentiated and specific. For example, love is an emotion that we experience in our relationships with other people, and sometimes, things. Yet the feeling we experience within each relationship is different. Langer points out that language may be adequate for communicating about emotions. (We have a range of words for love, sadness, grief, hate, sorrow, elation, fear, regret, etc). However language is inadequate when it comes to communicating about feelings. (There is not a word to describe the difference in the grief I feel between the loss of my mother and the loss of my job or the loss of a pet.) The arts do have a way of symbolizing these subtle and specific feelings and thus enable us to share understandings of the human condition in a deeper and more profound way than is possible with words alone. So while the lyrics of a song may address an emotional state, the music ( specifically the melodic line, the rhythm, the subtle changes in volume, the harmony created by combinations of tones, etc. goes beyond the generalized emotion to express a more differentiated feeling.

How does music do this?

To answer this question we turn to another mid-1900’s author, Leonard Myer and his theory of expectation. According to Myer, enculturation causes us to expect certain sounds to follow one another. A very simple example will illustrate this. The melody of the familiar song “Three Blind Mice” begins with three descending pitches. This pattern establishes an expectation that is confirmed through the repetition of these same three pitches. However, If the final pitch of second phrase went upward rather than continuing downward as we expect, we would react with in a feelingful way. One might label that reaction as “surprise” (which would be an emotion) however, the specific reaction we experience would be dependent on the tone that was substituted for the one we expect. It would be very difficult to verbally label the degree of surprise, but it would be felt and through that feeling we would become a bit more aware of our humanity. Listen to this simple example and with awareness of the feeling you experience when Melody B does something different than you expect.

Melody Example

To be sure, this is a very simple example of how Meyer’s theory of expectation might be applied to pitch. However, each aspect of sound: rhythm, volume, harmony, etc. also has “expected sequences” As these various elements begin interacting with one another in a well crafted composition, we are taken on an “aural roller coaster” of feelingful expectations and surprises. We experience feelings we may not have encountered before. We “re-live” feelings that we experienced in other times and places, examining them more deeply. We become aware of the wide range of feelings that are available to us as humans. We learn a bit more of what it means to be human.

Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” provides a further opportunity to test the theories of Langer and Myer about music’s ability express human feeling. This composition was constructed from two short patterns; one introduced by the percussion, the other by the brass. The simplicity and clarity of these patterns establish expectations, but each repetition reveals a deviation that enables a felt response. If we listen with anticipation about the destination of each sound pattern, and an openness to our reaction to those sounds, we will gain some insight into Copland’s understanding of one aspect of the human condition.

Listening Example “Fanfare for the Common Man”

Video Example “Fanfare for the Common Man”

Keith P. Thompson, Ph. D.
Professor Emeritus, Penn State
Adjunct Professor, Excelsior College