The Impact of Virtual Office Hours on In-Class Participation
This study investigated whether there would be an increase in college student's participation in a college methods course that utilized virtual office hours. Virtual office hours involved a specific time when the professor was available for private or public questions and discussions via the Internet. Two groups of students participated in a social studies methods course where virtual office hours were made available twice a week. Laptop computers were issued fo'r the duration of the semester. Students also participated in required asynchronous discussions online. Data were collected from the course and from student interviews regarding the virtual experience. Results indicated that participating students developed a classroom culture that functioned during the virtual office which not only supported classroom discussions but also created a comfort level that augmented participation during the actual class time. Students reported that the virtual office hours had a direct impact upon class discussions. The virtual office provided students with a model of thoughtful discussions that they could then practice for themselves. With the confidence developed from this practice, students subsequently developed their own means of putting these ideas into practice. (Contains 22 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
Redesigning Physical Geography 101: bringing students into the discussion
Abstract This article analyses student-learning outcomes from the redesign of Introduction to Physical Geography 101. Among the purposes of the redesigned course were to enhance student learning by providing rich interactive online content, provide more meaningful instructor–student and peer–peer exchanges, and to promote attitudes that facilitate student opportunities to construct new knowledge. Through empirically testing two of the redesigned course’s key components on students’ learning, we determine the positive effects on students’ exam scores. We offer, despite the additional work required from instructors and teaching assistants for such a redesigned course, that with further refinement these pedagogical changes may offer potential longer term impact on students’ learning behaviors.
The Effects of Supplemental On-Task Contingencies On the Acquisition of Simple and Difficult Academic Tasks
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of different reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of both a simple and difficult academic task. Distractible students were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions, reflecting the two independent variable manipulations: simple task with contingencies for attention and correct academic performance (SAP), simple task with contingencies, for correct academic performance alone (SP), difficult task with contingencies for attention and correct academic performance (DAP), or difficult task with contingencies for correct academic performance alone (DP). The results indicated that for difficult tasks students assigned to contingencies for correct academic performance alone (DP) were off-task more and scored significantly lower on two measures of academic performance than those students who were assigned to the DAP condition. No such differential effect was noted for students assigned to the simple task conditions; all students, regardless of contingency condition (SAP or SP), maintained high rates of time and task and academic performance. The results were discussed in terms of both theoretical and practical implications. It was suggested that teachers could not only task analyze specific instructional skills but also plan and implement specific contingency management strategies based upon the characteristics of the component skill to be presented.