Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom
What Was Most Challenging About Implementing Innovation? Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom
Faculty time implementing Finding help to assess innovation Merging theory and hands-on learning in a well-researched manner / pedagogy Financial cost of equipment and laboratory setup Shortage of “right-sized” laboratory/classrooms Adequate teaching assistant / instructional support (lacks of graduate students, priority of TA’s time, English proficiency) Resistance by students of change Resistance of previous classroom faculty of change Student costs for laptops / computers – access to technology Get students to work on a longer project schedule Students getting a free-ride with their partners Less ABET “friendly” Teaching engineering students how to write engineering documents Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom What Was Most Challenging About Implementing Innovation?
What Has Worked Well? Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom
What Has Worked Well? Talk to students about previous experiences Set milestones early and often for students Get students to report progress to entire class Formal design reviews Student evaluations / catme.org Weekly individual report of activities Group coding/work General lab fee for engineering students to fund spaces Linking concepts from multiple classes together to improve understanding or principles (breaking down silos) Concept maps for previous courses Requiring students to take responsibility for their education (debugging, homework, Giving previous examples that don’t work and let them practice debugging Reflective essays after lab/project experiences You get debugging / problem solving skills through project/problem based learning in a mixed-mode classroom Recruit students to help with homework / rubrics – students are learning differently Merge research with classroom experiences Bring research into education / students developing papers out of their project work Talk to department chair about loading / resources / teaching faculty Administration supporting innovations in engineering as discussions of improving education pushed by MOOCs Weekly meetings with assistants / preceptors Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom
How Are You Documenting the Impact of Your Innovation? Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom
How Are You Documenting the Impact of Your Innovation? Student reflective essays Focus group interviews Partnering with assessment faculty Pre/Post-quizzes (for grade / no grade) Multiple student written reports Concept inventories (NSF grant funded, well respected) Student retention rates Longitudinal studies / diaries / portfolios Engineering Society / Education & Innovation Center for writing assignments Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom
How Do You Scale the Innovation Up? Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom
How Do You Scale the Innovation Up? Cannot be business as usual Need to make teaching a priority in the department, college, university, not just a minimum qualification Need larger mixed-mode rooms or more sections Staffing (faculty, student assistants, staff, technician) Develop longitudinal series of classes Reaching out to other institutions through workshops/conferences Support concepts with research publications Marketing campaign Collaborators at own/other institutions Co-teaching across institutions Get the best person(s) in the world Need to maintain credibility of yourself No problems with credibility of assigning someone else’s textbook, why worry about assigning someone else’s video? Uniformity of material / syllabus / content Politics, money, investments, corporate involvement Using more students in curriculum implementation and development Require students to take a class in assisting? Invest more in student assistants development Projects in a Mixed-Mode Classroom