Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale
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The document discusses a research project aimed at improving teaching quality at scale through digital learning technologies and diverse pedagogical methods across seven Danish universities. It highlights the importance of defining and measuring teaching quality from the perspectives of professors, students, and teaching assistants, while identifying potential improvements through continuous feedback and effective use of technology. The project, running from February 2021 to January 2023, emphasizes value creation by increasing student retention and enhancing educational quality.
Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale
- 1. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Md Saifuddin Khalid, Associate Professor, DTU Compute 1
- 2. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Supported by
- 3. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale • Research Problem and Aims Scale teaching methods for both physical and digital teaching environments to higher number of students via digital learning technology and a combination of face2face learning, student driven learning and digital learning technology. • Value Creation Increasing the teaching quality at scale with learning technology will enable educational programs to educate more students and improve retention. • Project Period February 1, 2021 – January 31, 2023 – 2 years. 3
- 4. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Scope of Investivation 4 Teaching Quality • Where? Higher Education • Who defines teaching quality and how: Students, TAs, Professors? • What are the mesurement criteria and measurement units? Learning Technology • Digital • Non-Digital Scale • Large classrooms (100+ students) Improving • What’s the baseline measurement?
- 5. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Context and Participants • Seven Danish Universities: 8 CS/Mat/Digi Departments 1. Aalborg University (AAU): Department of Computer Science 2. Aarhus University (AU): Department of Computer Science 3. Copenhagen Business School (CBS): Department of Digitalization 4. Copenhagen University (KU): Department of Computer Science 5. IT University of Copenhagen (ITU): Department of Computer Science 6. Technical University of Denmark (DTU): Department of Mathematics and Computer Science 7. University of Southern Denmark (SDU) i. The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute (MMMI) ii. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science (IMDA) 5
- 6. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Large Classrooms (100 or more enrolled) 6
- 7. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Theoretical Concepts and Methods Theoretical Concepts • Teaching Learning Activities (TLAs) • Professions’ Signature Pedagogies • Educators’ Teaching Styles • Students’ Learning Preferences Methods • Interviews, Observations, Survey, & Co-Design Workshops • People, Activities, Contexts, and Technologies (PACT) Analysis • Personas: – Students: Learner Profile and Personality Profile – Educators: Signature Pedagogies and Teaching Styles • Students’ Journey Map • Point-of-view Statements and How Might We? • Value Proposition Canvas 7
- 8. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Teaching Learning Activities: Across Pedagogies 1. Preparation before class/Follow-up after class 2. Contact hours: 1. Lectures with Professors 2. Exercises with Teaching Assistants 3. Team-building & Conflict resolution 4. Supervision: Projects and Assignments 5. Project/Assignment Assessment by Teaching Assistants (Formative) 6. Final exam and result (Summative) 7. Course evaluation (mid-term and term-end) 8. Plagiarism Check 9. Guest lecture and excursion 10.Group activities: Communication, and collaboration 11.Subject-Specific tools’ access and learning (R, Phython, Adobe XD,..) 12.Complaint about assessment 13.Announcements, notices, and discussions 8
- 9. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Insights from Interviews with Professors • How do you define teaching quality? – The pupose of teaching is that students learn something when teachers give the resources to the students in the form of lectures, reading material, communication, etc. Coherent teaching fulfils the purpose by the alignment of learning goals, teaching activities, and the students also engage in the activities. Contrary to others, I find that motivation is not associated with quality in the sense that the purpose of teaching does not have to be intrinsically motivating. • How to measure teaching quality? – The teaching quality measurement criteria can be based on students’ course evaluation. • Are there any concerns associated with the teaching quality measurement process? – The students’ evaluation are dependent on other factors: their intrinsic motivation, effort required in the course, reasons for taking the course (mandatory or elective), whether or not they like the feedback, student population in the course, etc. So, the feedbacks are not necessarily focused on the actual quality of the ‘resources’ for teaching. • How might you improve elements of your teaching using learning technology or otherwise? • Flipped classroom - perhaps do something more interactive than lectures, R simulation & Kahoot. 9
- 10. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Insights from Interviews with Students • How do you define teaching quality? – The students should understand the content and whatever is communicated. The learning resources/information should reach everyone. • How to measure teaching quality? – Based on semester-end course evaluation but I’ve only responded in three courses in life – because the course was extraordinarily good/bad. • Are there any concerns associated with the teaching quality mesurement process? – Semeser-end online evaluations are not rewarding. Oral course evaluation are rather more rewarding – Once, a female professor (probably new) got some constructive feedback during last 20 min of the course, which was not that good but the students gave honest and positive. • How might you improve elements of teaching using learning technology or otherwise? – Lectures are crucial, which should make me understand and enagege. So, ensure technologies work – it’s unnecessary inconvenience for 700+ students to follow slides from own screen as the projector did not work. – My every course involved synchronous online lectures, where Professors didn’t know how to control the camera or don’t notice that students can’t see the writings on the blackboard, some don’t know how to deal with the video, talks in a flow and forget to look at/interact with the 500+ students attending online. Please deliver the same quality of lecture for online students as the assessment is same for all. 10
- 11. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Insights from Interviews with Teaching Assistants • How do you define teaching quality? – Achivement of surface/deep level understanding within a given amount of time, from insights of learning activities, and ability to apply equations/concepts and not just derivations/theory. • How to measure teaching quality? – 1. Feedback: Students think that they can solve problems based on the teaching/learning activities. 2. Feeback: Verbally stating if I am guiding well, how & why. • Are there any concerns associated with the teaching quality mesurement process? – Midterm & semeser-end online evaluations are not valuable. Continuous feedback from students are not collected and same types of queries to TAs individually or in small groups take more time & are not communicated across TAs & all students. • How might you improve elements of teaching using learning technology or otherwise? – Collect continuous qualitative feedback from students, understanding students’ learning preferences, & what do they need particular help with/want to learn. – Assessment of Assignments/Projects shows a pattern of mistakes/challenges, which should be communicated among TAs and Professors for providing consolidated feedback through LMS. – Help students to use the existing resources – Exercise solutions, Quizzes, website, Rhapsode, LMS etc. more effectively. 11
- 12. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Design Questions! - Ideation Point-of-view statements • Professor: – The purpose of teaching does not have to be intrinsically motivating. – The teaching quality measurement criteria can be based on students’ course evaluation. • Students: – It’s unnecessary inconvenience for 700+ students to follow slides from own screen as the projector did not work. – Professors didn’t know how to control the camera or don’t notice that students can’t see the writings on the blackboard, some don’t know how to deal with the video, talks in a flow and forget to look at/interact with the 500+ students attending online. – Semester-end online evaluations are not rewarding. Oral course evaluation are rather more rewarding. How might we? – make teaching extrinsically motivating; measure quality of contact hours/lectures; ensure the teachnologies for lectures to work; ensure professors and teaching resources to engage/interact with students; build on the value oral evaluations give. 12
- 13. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Signature Pedagogies • The characteristics which form the teaching and learning in a profession is termed as signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005). 13
- 14. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Example: Law School Class 14
- 15. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Example: Typical Engineering School 15
- 16. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Signature Pedagogies Example: Design Studio in Engineering School (Source) 16
- 17. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Signature Pedagogies Example: Medical School classroom 17
- 18. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Signature pedagogy of Computer Science and Mathematics has been ”chalk & talk” + Examples of how to solve a problem: What can go wrong? 18
- 19. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Students’ formative feedback: 13 Weeks Live Online 19
- 20. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale 20
- 21. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Learning Styles • Learning style is a component of the wider concept of personality. • Advocates of learning style models postulate that students learn in different ways. Taking that as a basic premise leads to the implications that higher education faculty should not assume –(1) that all adult students learn the same way and –(2) that a faculty member’s own dispositions and/or preferences for learning are broad enough to accommodate the learning needs of most or all the students in the course. 21
- 22. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Students’ Learning Preferences 1. Sociability (face-to-face other students), 2. Student Organization (set-schedule study) 3. Authority Dependence (need instructor feedback) 4. Avoidance (Class boring) 5. Communication (good written communication) 6. Reading (prefer reading) 7. Concrete (like concrete examples) 8. Recognition (Teacher recognize work) 9. Action (participate in course) 10. and Instructor Organization (need clear instructions) Witta and Lee (2005) 22
- 23. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale Student Learning Preferences • Student A was strong in Social Interaction, Reading Visual Text and Graphics, and Technology. However, the student was least comfortable with learning when the factors of Self-Management, Teacher Feedback and Listening were considered. With the goal of supporting Student A to a successful conclusion of the course, the student was given a customized list of tips for online learning that addressed the specific areas of need made evident by the Learning Preferences Profile. Figure 1. Student A’s Learning Preferences Profile. 23 (Abell, Cain, and Lee, 2016)
- 24. DTU Compute 8 December 2021 Learning Technology for Improving Teaching Quality at Scale The way forward! • Persuade Professors to adopt formative evaluation and identify quality diminsions • Persuade Professors to recognize teaching styles • Develop pseaudoanonymized learning preferences of students • Pilot test the explanability of students’ stress level on • Develop recommender systems to give schedule insights to students and educators 24
Editor's Notes
- #15: The 120 seats are arranged in a semicircle so that most students can see many of the other students. The instructor, clearly visible behind the lectern, is at the center of the long side of the rectangle. Rather than lecturing, he tends to ask questions of one student at a time, chasing the initial question with a string of follow-ups.
- #17: Design studio in Engineering school: Here students assemble around work areas with physical models or virtual designs on computer screens; there is no obvious 'front' of the room.
- #18: The ritual of case presentation, pointed questions, exploration of alternative interpretations, working diagnosis, and treatment plan is routine. The patient may be physically present or represented by a case record or, these days, by a video.
- #23: Witta and Lee (2005) identified, through a factor analysis and internal consistency reliability test, ten factors, or elements, which reflected learners’ preferences in an online environment. These ten elements closely parallel the categories investigated in the existing research literature.
- #24: Suggestions that were given to Student A included tips on how to better manage the responsibilities of the course. An important tip for this student was to create a regular class ‘meeting time’ each week, as if it were a class on campus. Since this graduate student had a fulltime job and a growing family at home, it was suggested that she spend the weekly, reserved class time away from their home environment, perhaps a coffee shop or public library, to insure a quiet environment to complete the work of the course for the week. Exploring video conference meetings as a way to improve communication with the instructor was suggested to help support the need for self-management skills. This student was reminded to view recordings of course video presentations as many times as needed to maximize the content gained.