Rick, to tell you the truth, I didn't think about using cell phones as
cheat sheets. In such case as taking exams, I agree. But, I still
don't think you can equate that situation with a regular non-test class
time.
� --Louis--
Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History
www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\__/\ \/\
/ \/ \___\/ / \/ /\/ /\
//\/\/ /\ \__/_/_/\_\___\_/__\
/\"If you want to climb mountains,\
/\
_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" -
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Adams [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 7:47 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject: RE: reducing cell phone disruptions in the classroom
Well designed online courses are based primarily on discussion forums.
>From that perspective, testing (if used at all) is minimized and the
emphasis is shifted to a demonstration of subject mastery instead.
Commonly I will post two or three discussion questions, each with its
own
forum, per week. The questions will be open ended and designed to
demonstrate both subject understanding and the ability to go beyond the
text and actively seek out information. For example, in an Intro class I
might post the following:
"Discuss the issues involved in the prisoner tortures that took place in
Iraq from a psychological perspective. Relate Zimbardo's famous prison
experiment to the events and attempt to explain how such events could
happen. Use the Internet to research the topic of human rights
violations
in oppressed nations and relate what you have learned to this
discussion.
Are there other principles involved besides those revealed by Zimbardo's
work? Explain and discuss them. Then reply to the responses of at least
four of your classmates and attempt to expand on their conclusions. Be
sure to provide urls for the Internet sites you cite."
Or:
"Some research conducted in Europe has suggested that taking 300mg per
day
of the Enzyme Q-10 may slow the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Research
the literature on this topic and present a summary of the results. Is
the
evidence ambiguous or clear-cut? Has it been replicated? How strong a
link
(if any) appears to be present between the disorder and the enzyme? What
other factors do the researchers feel may contribute to this link?
Present
citations to support your points then reply to the responses of your
classmates and try to reach a consensus on this research."
Or even:
"Despite being the wealthiest person in the world, until his marriage,
Bill Gates worked an average of 70+ hours every week. This type of
behavior is very common among the "super-rich" in the United States.
Discuss this behavior in psychological terms (using both your textbook
and
Internet research to support your points). Why would someone work so
hard--often at a job he or she didn't even enjoy doing--when that person
already had more money than it would be reasonably possible to spend in
a
lifetime? What psychological principles influence this kind of behavior?
Is the behavior positive or negative in nature? Explain your decision.
Then, as always, reply to the responses of four or more of your
classmates
and try to expand on their conclusions."
In other cases, the questions will be simpler or far more open-ended.
The
idea, of course, is to encourage the learners to go beyond the textbook
material and actively pursue new information and ideas; essentially to
become involved in the subject matter itself.
Tests, rather than being aimed at demonstration of memorized material,
become tools to insure the material is understood. Obviously, a learner
has access to his or her textbook--and thus the idea of testing for
memorization is pointless. Instead, overall principles are tested. A
case
study might be presented with several questions following it, all
multiple
choice, aimed at demonstrating the ability to apply the material in the
textbook to a real-life situation (i.e., The Kitty Genovese [sp?] case
might be briefly summarized and a number of questions asked about the
social-psychological influences that led to the result or an "optical
illusion" might be provided with a number of multiple-choice questions
concerning the perceptual issues).
Some classes require more testing than others. Statistics, for example,
is
one in which a weekly test (which is completed by the learner then
submitted to an assignment "drop box" for grading and has no time
limits)
is extremely important. But even there, the bulk of the learning will
come
from the discussion forums. In the case of statistics, a problem can be
assigned that the learner solves then posts to the discussion forum
(complete with graphs, calculations, etc.). The learners then comment on
each other's responses (the key to successful discussion forums is to
develop the skills of the learners to communicate constructively and
help
each other to learn) and try to expand from the specific (the problem
itself) to the general (how the principles used to solve the problem
could
be applied to other areas or other types of problems).
Even those online courses that base the testing portion of their grades
on
quizzes conducted within the system (instead of permitting the learner
to
answer the quiz or test in a detailed word processing document), thus
requiring the learner to respond to questions using an online testing
engine, still acknowledge that the learner will have access to the
textbook. Such tests are often time limited--allowing the learner
adequate
time to respond to all the questions (and to check his or her answers
before submitting the quiz) but not enough time to look up all the
answers. More importantly, that kind of quiz is still designed to test
the
ability of the learners to apply the _principles_ of the subject rather
than simply testing to determine whether or not he or she has memorized
the terms.
There are a number of institutions that have "sample" classrooms
available
for prospective students to visit and explore the online delivery system
in use (commonly either Blackboard, WebCT, or Education--with Blackboard
being the most frequently used system and WebCT the most sophisticated
and
versatile one). Put together as "mini-courses" many of those sample
classrooms include simple online tests as well as discussion forums. A
few
such sites would include:
http://www.capella.edu/reborn/html/aboutcapella/ElearningCapella/index.a
sp
x
http://www.gcu.edu/blackboard/navigation/
https://classes.jccmi.edu/educator/signinguest.cgi?guest
In addition, anyone interested in online education would profit from
reading Palloff & Pratt's excellent work on the subject:
Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2003). _The Virtual Student: A profile
and guide to working with online learners_. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
I'm admittedly prejudiced in favor of the book since the authors are
core
faculty at one of the Universities I teach for (Capella University), but
it's an outstanding book for anyone interested in learning more about
online teaching.
Have a great day,
Rick
--
Rick Adams
Capella University, Graduate School of Technology
Grand Canyon University, School of Social Sciences.
Jackson Community College, Department of Social Sciences
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
10. The Earth quakes and the Heavens rattle;
the beasts of nature flock together and the
nations of men flock apart; volcanoes usher up
heat while elsewhere water becomes ice and
melts; and then on other days it just rains.
11. Indeed do many things come to pass.
-HBT; The Book of Predictions, Chap. 19
<fnord>
-----Original Message-----
From: Eastman, Mark [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 12:53 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject: RE: reducing cell phone disruptions in the classroom
How is on-line testing carried out? I am intrigued at the possibility,
but can't seem to think of how an objective type exam (multiple choice)
can be carried out open book style.
Mark Eastman
Diablo Valley College
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
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