Integrating OER in English Courses
- 1. Integrating OER in English Courses SUNY OER Services Showcase Webinar
- 2. Elizabeth Johnston, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English Integrating OER in English Courses
- 3. Helping At-Risk Students Succeed in College Composition ● Nationwide, ⅓ of Community College students live in poverty. 14% are homeless (NPR) ● 1st generation college students are less likely to succeed (Chronicle of Higher Education), but leave college with greater student debt than their peers (Furquim et al. 2017). They struggle in part due to lack of familial support, difficulty adjusting to college, and not being academically ready (“Breaking Down Barriers”) ● 44% of MCC’s students receive Pell grants ● Ten years after graduation, our average graduate is earning $34K; the median debt for MCC graduates is $11.5K (Community College Review); ● We have a 53% Full-time retention rate (Fall 2015- Fall 20176) and a 65% Course Completion Rate (Fall 2016) (College Score Card) ● Our C or better rates in English 101 have traditionally hovered close to 60% in Fall and 50% in Spring despite a number of different approaches….
- 4. So….. What Can We Do? 1. OER materials are free = access to material immediately and lessened stress regarding costs/debt 2. OER materials are multimodal = engaging for 21st century learners and sensitive to learning preferences 3. OER materials are embedded in LMS = accessible resources for students (help organizing and locating materials) 4. OER materials are electronic = “just in time” teaching for feedback/direct links to resources 5. OER materials are flexible = on-demand teaching adjustable for unique learner needs
- 5. Using Excelsior’s OWL and ORC
- 6. Example Lesson: Evaluating Sources ● On their own: students review the module on Evaluating Sources and watch the video ● In class: students use evaluation checklist to examine sources
- 7. Example Lesson: Logical Fallacies ● On their own students review tutorials on logical fallacies and watch the videos ● Students work in groups using handout to identify logical fallacies ● For homework, students examine their own writing
- 8. EXAMPLE LESSON SERIES--ALP SUPPORT ● 101 Students: Summarizing ● ALP Students: Reading Support ○ On their own (homework): video and activity ○ In class: review of activity ○ In class: apply handout strategies to text
- 9. Just-in Time Feedback ● Work in class with common errors (ex: commas) ● “Try it Out” = great class exercise ● Apply to current drafts (ex: look for FANBOYS) ● Easy to embed tutorials in comments if grading online
- 10. Student Feedback Prompts: ● As a cost-cutting strategy, we didn't use a physical textbook for this class, but instead used open educational online resources. Would you have preferred a physical textbook? Why/Why not? ● Of the online resources I provided you (Excelsior OWL, Purdue's OWL, various websites, screencast tutorials that I made), which did you find most/least helpful, and why? Which, if any, do you think you'll bookmark/save to use after this class ends? ● “I was very happy to see that there were no physical textbooks for this course. I can't tell you how many grammar books I have.. well, probably five or so! All unused. I wouldn't have it any other way, as I find the internet resources more that adequate. This both saves the student money and avails them of current, updated, and relevant resources.” ● “online readings were extremely efficient in providing educational reading material. The assigned readings are also more flexible than a textbook, so it helped to tailor what was appropriate for the class.” ● “I enjoyed not using a textbook, it is not usual to not have to use a textbook. I enjoyed it for multiple reasons. One reason being that I don’t enjoy being stuck in front of a textbook for hours reading through chapters assigned. Another reason that I don’t enjoy textbooks is because they don’t always give many reasons of how to solve or understand problems. I thought that the OWL was the most helpful because it has many different subjects on the website so it can be as helpful as possible. I believe that OWL has helped improved my writing throughout the semester because it has taught me how to write and use things correctly. I think that the tips from the links and things I have learned off of OWL will be able to help me in other classes and help me to be able to keep improving my writing as I continue school.” ● “At the beginning of this course having to think about myself as a writer was a positive thing for me. Figuring out what my strengths and weaknesses were to improve as a writer contributed to my success overall in my eyes. Trying to look from the outside in about yourself and the things you struggle with helps you then really focus on what you need to improve on. Something else I enjoyed in this course was having access to the Excelsior OWL website. I think I will use that as long as possible throughout my college career to help me write papers for other courses. It was an easy to understand helpful format that proved itself worthy to me on multiple occasions.“ ● I will definitely be saving the OWL resources as they were very helpful. I especially found them useful when I would get stuck with writers block. Rather than detaching from the course material all together, I had the opportunity to take my mind off of the specifics of my paper and click through short but informative articles on the OWL websites. I liked the screencasts that were made available, as it not only gave insight into our projects but also into the mind and works of the professor. Often professors avoid getting into what they love to write about, sa it was refreshing to have a glimpse into the process of a professional. ● “I am enjoying the use of the OWL it is a wonderful tool that is engineered to make writing enjoyable. I plan to use most of these pre writing strategies as I prepare for this coming up essay and feel that I will write a great piece in result of using them. I enjoyed doing this.” ● “The OWL’s were incredible, those resources on the pages are absolutely incredible. There is an entire 12 years of school on those sites.”
- 11. Q&A
Editor's Notes
- #2: INTRO - Moderator start recording Good Afternoon. My name is Alexis Clifton. I am the Executive Director of SUNY OER Services. On behalf of the SUNY OER Services team, I would like to welcome you to this webinar as part of the SUNY OER Services Showcase Series. The Showcase Webinar series is a program offered monthly by SUNY OER Services with the aim of featuring OER faculty champions from across our diverse community of practitioners, who have elevated their teaching practice by incorporating OER into their courses. In doing so, these faculty have positively impacted their students’ learning experience, making higher education more accessible, affordable, and engaging. We are excited to share this webinar with you.
- #3: INTRO Today, we are pleased to host Elizabeth Johnston, Associate Professor of English at Monroe Community College. Dr. Johnston received her PhD in 18th C. British Literature, with an emphasis on women writers, from West Virginia University in 2005. She is a widely-published scholar and creative writer, and teaches in the English and Philosophy department at Monroe Community College with a focus on writing, literature, and gender studies. Dr. Johnston has been the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships related to online teaching and learning. From 2012-2013 she served as a fellow for the Community Center for Teaching Excellence. She won the 2014 SUNY Excellence in Teaching Award and, more recently, the 2017 SUNY’s Spring Traveling Lecturer Award to St. Petersburg, Russia. She has also been recognized as an Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador for her enthusiasm and dedication to online teaching and learning. Additionally, she has advocated for and piloted open educational resources. Since 2014, she has served as an outside consultant for Excelsior College’s Online Writing and Reading Labs and is currently teaching several OER course sections as part of MCC’s Achieving the Dream grant. Welcome Elizabeth, and thank you for sharing your time and expertise with us today!
- #12: Q&A - up to 10 mins
- #13: CLOSING Thank you again to Elizabeth and to all the participants for joining us today for this SOS Showcase Webinar! Today’s webinar recording and slides will be made available shortly at the same site where you registered: http://bit.ly/SOSOERwebinars We will feature another faculty rockstar next month, so check back on the SUNY OER services registration site as details will be posted soon. Please visit the open-NYS website for a multitude of information and resources to get you connected, as well as faculty profiles for those experts on OER in your discipline: http://open-nys.org/ Thank you so much for joining us today. We look forward to seeing you at our next event, next month. STOP RECORDING