Reducing Workload

 

Creating course materials, teaching, and managing the distance learning environment all take time.  What strategies do you use to help you work more efficiently without sacrificing student learning? Share your ideas with us.

 

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IDEA: (You mean beyond overloading the TA!?) - Organisation

 

Actually this course is giving me quite a few ideas many (ok... some) of which I'll test next semester. The reusable objects coupled with the use of the WebCT suggestion is one of the best. I used WebCT before NMSU, but this year having small classes I found it unnecessary. Also, having to prepare two new no-manual courses (third one in the summer) I found that I am less organized than I ought to be. However once settled I think I will use visual/animation support whenever possible. In long term I consider organisation and course stability to be the best time-saver regardless of the level of technological involvment. I just have the feeling that creating electronic objects may not help some of us - I would just feel the need to constantly tinker with them.

Adrian Unc tttttttttttt

 

 

IDEA: Using WebCT to save time.

I was one of the last hold outs in my department when it comes to using WebCT. In fact, I didn't start using until last summer when I I forced to do so because I was teaching an all online class. Now I find it an indispensable time saver, especially when it comes to classroom management materials. A simple example is giving students progress reports. WebCT does it for me; as long as I keep up with posting their grades, WebCT allows a student access their average any time they like, keeping me from having to print out individual progress reports every week or two.

 

Students and instructors being able to write at any time of day or night when it's convenient appears to be one of the great benefits of going online for learning and teaching. Online teaching give us opportunity to utilize internet sources but you have to be very organized:)- marija Dimitrijevic

 

 

 

WebCT is also a perfect tool for giving quizzes and tests and saves me considerable time grading them. Finally, it allows for students to post assignments, even if they can't attend class, saving me considerable time in grading late work. All in all, I would utilize it for even for classes that are not online, just to keep paperwork at a minimum. - Kurt Depner

 

 

IDEA: Create Reusable Objects.

I frequently create video and text tutorials for my students. When I first began doing this, I personalized the tutorials to include such info as login information, etc. After recreating several tutorials because of changing login info, I realized that I was working harder, not smarter. Now, when I create a tutorial, I keep it generic and put the personal information in the directions prior to the link to the tutorial. This has saved me quite a bit of time and given me a wide selection of tutorials I can reuse any time for any class.

 

 

IDEA: Devoting class time for students to work (start) their assignment

For some assignments, I give students some class time (maybe 5-10 minutes depending on the assignment and of course what else is going on that lesson) to work on their assignment. I try to do this as much as possible before the assignment is due versus the day before its due to discourage procastination. For most students, this work time is the first time they have even looked at the assignment, so this short time is for them to start it. I've noticed that the biggest barrier to most assignments is actually starting them! Five to ten minutes of course isn't really enough time for them to get much done, but at least they will have looked at the assignment and can ask questions (to me or their classmates) about the assignment. Hopefully they walk away from this understanding what they have to do and how this assignment fits into their busy schedule. During this short in class activity, I encourage them to talk to one another (or me). Most students found this technique to reduce their workload (if nothing else the perception of it). (contributed by Randy Carlson)

 

 

IDEA: In-Class Project Time

My graduate classes meet only once a week for over 2 hours. When using a team project as part of the course, I like to give them time in-class to meet on their project. Susan Wilson

 

 

IDEA: Grading of Online Assignments

I ceased making answer keys for assignments after my second semester of online teaching. Here is what I do for each assignment: When the first student submits their work I go ahead and grade their assignment while having the text handy to fill in any gaps in my own knowledge. Then after I upload this person's work I then use this first graded assignment as a key, again to augment where I myself cannot recall that correct information. --Gil Verser

 

 

IDEA: Grading short assignments in class

So far, I only teach f2f classes, mostly in developmental composition. The students often need grammar instruction, which I usually accomplish by using exercises in their text. If I have them do the exercises as a quiz, they exchange papers and grade each other. This accomplishes two things. They have the immediacy of going over the material so that they can ask questions and get a better grasp on the concepts, and I only have to record instead of do the grading.

 

Sometimes I have them work on exercises in groups and then discuss the answers in class. I then only need to record participation. --Margaret Loring

 

 

IDEA: Group Project Day & Check-in Day; Selective Home-work submission

For a class that requires the submission of an in-depth group project, assign one "project work & Check-in with instructor" day once every two weeks. During this session, as the groups work on their project, each group meets individually with the instructor to ask questions, present their work and get feedback. To ensure that the groups are working on making progress, specific parts of the project (i.e. identified client, client needs, identified problems etc. in a consulting class) are due in to the instructor on each group work day.

 

Second idea works very well in my grad ANOVA class. The professor assigns home-work on a regular basis but collects it randomly. In either case, regardless of whether the work is collected, she solves the problems in class. This strategy is effective for my class because we always have the work ready and it cuts down on grading for her. Yasanthi

 

IDEA: clickers!

In a large class, using clickers more often, and assigning a higher percentage of the course grade as clicker points seem like a good idea to reduce the workload of both the students and the instructors.

aysegul.

aself evaluation.  I use this grading method on course content, where I want the student to learn the process or procedure of the assignment more than the actual content they create. 

 

IDEA:  Self Checking

 

When the students are ask to do an assignment that learning the process/procedure is the goal rather than the content, I set up a grading rubric for the student to self-check their progress.

 

Jackie

 

IDEA: Student Peer Review of Student Papers

 

First complete drafts of student papers are often of low or intermediate quality, even if students completed many individual tasks before combining them into those first drafts.  To reduce my workload (and also to enhance student learning – see below), I ask students to peer-review each others’ first drafts, revise their papers based on their peers’ feedback, and submit the revised drafts to me.  My instructions for the peer reviews (which are graded, but much less painful to grade than the first drafts) are very detailed: students have to use different colors to identify problem statements, objectives, significance statements, logical gaps, etc; students have to determine if figures are referenced in the text and labeled properly; students have to check if all references in the bibliography are cited in the text and/or if some references are over-utilized in comparison to others; students also have to complete a grading rubric based on the many specific paper quality parameters they evaluated; and so forth.  While reducing my workload, students gain a lot from the review experience: they gain insight into somebody else’s topic; they get a very good sense for what I’m looking for in their papers; and they begin to evaluate more critically work completed by others.  The second paper drafts I receive after the peer review tend to be much better than the first drafts, and I enjoy reading and evaluating them a lot more.  I have only implemented this approach in non-distance-ed classes, but there are no technological limitations to implementing the approach in an online setting. --- Michaela

 

IDEA: Prepare Course Materials in Advance of Semester

Consequently, this is not possible in all situations, but if you can prepare any assignment, assessments, discussions, Web 2.0 tools and class activities prior to the semester's onset, the overall flow and structure of the class can run smoother. Facilitating and teaching is an art and should not be hurried. Often as professors, we are placed in the fast pace of the semester trying to do everything from trying to prepare the next upcoming lecture to creating the next intricate activity or critcally prepared assignment. When you have materials ready to go, you can do what you love!Long-term preparation really helps in the ease of the teaching!  Jodie K

 

IDEA:  Save Trees and Your Time by Having F2F Students Turn Papers in through Web CT

Like a lot of scholars in the humanities, the bulk of my teaching is built around the discussion of texts with students.  This means a lot of class time is spent doing close readings during discussion and in written work.  My students are responsible for turning in analyses for each class period and doing several short and 1 longer paper over the course of the semester.  In the past, I would spend a lot of time reading over and responding to student work.  I was familiar with research that indicates that pouring over and--let's say-- spiritedly responding to work is not the best way to engage them or help them to learn.  But, with the paper there in my hand, I couldn't resist.  Flesh is weak...  By chance (it was actually the request of an environmentally minded student), I allowed students who wished to turn papers in through the Assignment function on Web CT.  To my surprise, several students did this, but what was even a bigger suprise was the change it had on me in grading.  I downloaded the papers, made my notes, and then graded them.  Seems simple, right?  Well, the simplifed part is because (a) I merely read the papers and did not "respond" to them; (b) the notes I took addresses broad or "big picture" concerns; and (c) the Assignment function on Web CT provides only a small box for me to comment to my students about their paper.  This has helped me a lot, and since my teaching is around process and not final product, focusing on 1 "big picture" concern per paper contriubtes more to a student's process in my view than engaging in a conversation about multiple issues in a paper.  --Cat

 

IDEA: Subdividing Content

I often find myself teaching similar content at different levels (e.g. using more or less higher math). Instead of rewriting all material I can purposely divide it up in concepts (typically the same in all those classes) and applications (typically different). When deciding on how much time I will spend on teaching material, tutorials etc I think about if this will be good for just one class or helpful for more than one. Invest more time/technology when the possible audience is larger and keep it general enough. Then you only have to add/exchange what is truely different in each class. So by subdividing content in smaller units there is a greater chance on producing something that is reusable for more than one course. (Michaela Bur.)

 

IDEA: Less is More

I have listened to expert teachers over the years describing the importance of decreased content covered in lecture and increased student participation as the most effective way for students to learn.  Nursing is a very content driven discipline.  Students need to finish with a discrete set of skills and pass a licensing exam at the conclusion of this study.  Unlike other disciplines, nursing  school are expected to have a  first time pass rate of over 80 percent on their licensure exam for accreditation purposes.  To help address this problem and motivate student at the same time, faculty can use web assisted learning. The web 2.0 tools and webct or other LCMS systems can help address the content problem by using  many different strategies and animated demonstrations to present and demonstrate content.  This can decrease some of the busy work of  teaching to ensure the content is covered and at the same time allow more student learning and interaction to occur.  These tools can be used to teach in a more efficient and effective manner. Marilyn

 

IDEA & PROBLEMS: Working with TAs in graduate/upper-level courses

I am currently teaching a graduate course and am having difficulty working with the TA. The exams/assignments to be graded tend

to involve complex problems requiring detailed, essay-style answers.  It's difficult to describe to the TA my grading standards as these

don't have easy descriptions for detailed essay answers.  I've taken to grading a few randomly selected exams/assignments and including detailed comments.  Then sharing these with the TA as standards.  Even with this, I still feel the need to check the TA's grading.  But, all of this has been ultimately taking as much time as just grading everything myself.  In short, I'm not utilizing my TA well.  Thoughts would be much appreciated.   

 

 

IDEA & RESPONSE:  Working with a TA in an upper level course

I would like to respond to the comment just above this, as I have been a TA in an upper level science course, and I had to do the grading on essay-answer style problem sets for a class of about 60 students.  It was grueling!  (And yes, I did get help from the professor.)  What we did in this situation was the following.  1.  To address the problem of the TA and the prof not being "on the same page", the TA might consider attending the prof's classes/lectures.  This way, there's no guessing as to what is being covered, and in what detail.  2.  When it comes to developing a standard for the answers to the questions that require grading, sometimes the prof would provide his answer written out, complete with acceptable diagrams and/or equations, and then I would use that as a standard, or answer key, for grading.  Another option was for me, the TA, to write up my answers to the questions, have the prof look them over, and then use that combined product as the answer key for grading.  How many issues or topics or defintions or salient points or conclusive answers, the student's answers to the question contained, that determined how many points the student's answer received.  It also gave me, the TA, a working number for the total points that could be earned, and how they ought to be allocated.  Thus, grading was done. 

Finally I'd like to say, this is a time-consuming approach for everyone: prof, TA, and students.  But I'd also like to add:  I, the TA, definitely learned and expanded my knowledge!!!!  I was also able to see, by trying to decipher some of the answers that were turned in, how and where the students were misunderstanding the content.  (Oftentimes, figuring this out did give me headaches.)  Nevertheless, I believe it was a learning experience for myself and for the students. 

If I were the professor, I'm not sure I'd go this route, at least not in my first couple of years of teaching a course.  I think it might be better to post only a few problems on a website, have students post their replies to the problem, and then discuss these in class where all the misconceptions and errors can be addressed at once.  Thus, almost the same effect, but a LOT less work! 

Just my 2 cents' worth, from a former TA.

Liz

 

RESPONSE:

 

I found this page an interesting read.  Being the type of person that I am, I always look for ways to simplify my life.  I actually enjoy WebCT because it allows me to automate many redundant tasks, such as grading.  Although much upfront work is needed to create a good WebCT page, once one is created, it is easy to carry it over into future semesters and simply make needed modifications as the course evolves.  The best feature is the quiz tool, which can be designed to regulate access to certain labs and require proctor passwords.  These features allow me to administer quizzes via WebCT.  The students can report to a lab during the open time period set for the quiz and complete it.  They can get instant feedback.  For protection and minimize cheating requires a great deal of upfront work to create quizzes with multiple questions that are randomly delivered, this may keep students from entering the quiz early and sharing questions to others, as well as keep students from sitting next to each other in the lab and share answers.