Outcomes Frustration

I've taught 3 Quality Matters workshops in the last two days and am in the second week of moderating a two week Applying the Quality Matters Rubric class online.  So, I am feeling all QM all the time at the moment.  One key aspect of Quality Matters is Alignment - essentially seeking to have everything in the class lead students to meet the course outcomes.

I'm working on making sure my American Government module level objectives are aligned with my course level objectives. I'm going to be honest with you - these course level objectives are horrible. They are not measurable and they omit about half of the important things one should be able to do at the end of an American Government class, including being a good citizen or a thinking member of our country (which to me is the key reason for students to take this class). I was talking with my dean about this and he observed that these objectives were written ages ago and need to be completely rethought.

So, I am struggling, as I imagine many of you do, to make the class that needs to be taught align with the objectives that I have. I am getting around it by thinking broadly about the language of the objectives. For example, one outcome is to "Explain the changing nature of government" and under that, I am including many of the media pieces of the class, where students examine media depictions of the government and explore how that matches with what they know to be true.

The other option, which I am also likely to take as I pull things together in these last days, is to have some portions of the class that do not align with the outcomes that are there.  For this class, meeting the existing outcomes seems like only about 2/3 of the class. The other 1/3 really focuses on using the understanding of American Government to become a good citizen. So this class as it stands would not live through a Quality Matters review, as I confess that I likely will have some module level objectives that don't align with course level objectives.

Are any of you struggling with alignment? Trying to make the course you think should be taught align with the ancient objectives of a course that used to be taught?

Reference:
American Government Alignment Outline - in Workflowy
Quality Matters website

Course Structuring - Technology last

The quarter starts in less than two weeks and I am scrambling to get everything organized. I am especially conscious of the fact that I will be out of town at a conference every week in October. So at least the first several weeks of my American Government class needs to be completely done.

I have been using Workflowy to organize my American Government class and create my course map. Workflowy is essentially an outlining program.  I personally love outlines - I have a linear mind and ordering things in lists like this makes me happy.  I know it is not for everyone, so you might want to use mind maps or whatever. 

When planning an online class it is incredibly tempting to dive right into the learning management system, but resist the temptation!  The technology should be last.  You want the technology to support what you are doing, not the other way around. If you don't know what you are doing, then you can't know how to support it. So, start with your outline, your course plan, your outcomes/objectives.  

This is hard, I admit. For me and I'm guessing a lot of you, playing with the technology and thinking of how it can improve teaching and learning is great fun. But in the crunch time of the last couple of weeks before the quarter, there is no time for fun. I have to be focused and get this course map/outline done. You'll see how successful I am by checking out my live Workflowy American Government Outline.

Outcomes in Canvas

I've spent a lot of time talking about learning outcomes. Starting off with outcomes is key to good course design and to Quality Matters design in particular.  Canvas is supposed to make integrating outcomes easier than ANGEL.  I went to a couple of sessions at the conference on outcomes but no one did what I needed - talked about how to plug my existing outcomes into Canvas. I could try to figure it out, but since I only have 10 days left, I don't have time for that. Off to YourTube.

Canvas has a YouTube channel.  Once there, I clicked on Search Channel and searched for Outcomes (on a side note, before I did that, I saw a section called InstructureCon 2012- they already have all the conference sessions up on YouTube - cool!).  So, my search yielded 7 results including an Instructure Best Practices video, 42 minutes called Introduction to Learning Outcomes, below.  42 minutes sounds like a long time, but I will multitask while I watch and I will synthesize what I learn into something quick and easy for you in a future post.

Assessment & Measurement

Today I am looking at my Global Studies course through the lens of Quality Matters Standard 3 on Assessment and Measurement.


First, I realized, I should have this course organized on a course map. Since I already have all of the course and module level outcomes written out in the course, I just copied and pasted them into a table.  I also thought this would be easier since I repeat the exact same assignments during each week of the quarter. The next step will be to make sure everything maps, per Standard 3.1.  This standard requires that the assessments measure the learning objectives and are consistent with the course objectives.


So, as I fill in this chart, I am putting the specifics of each assignment in and making sure everything maps to the course outcomes.  So this is draft 1 and later on I will post the final version.  If something doesn't map properly, I can either adjust the assignment so that it does map or I can create something new that will map.  


I am also planning on using the LMS to map my outcomes, something I have never done. You can do this in ANGEL and in Canvas.  I will be teaching in ANGEL this summer, so I'll be using its its outcome mapping feature. I will show it to you in this little Jing video.  


Standard 3.2 requires a clear course grading policy, which I have in my syllabus, in my course orientation and in my rubrics.  I always have to check that things add up properly, since when I change stuff, the calculations always seem to get a bit messed up. When we do Quality Matters reviews, that is one place we often see small problems.


Standard 3.3 makes sure that specific and descriptive criteria are provided for the evaluation of student work and that they are tied to the grading. Again, this is in my rubrics.  I make heavy use of ANGEL's rubric tool. I understand that Canvas has a nice rubric tool as well, so I'm looking forward to learning that.


Standard 3.4 makes sure assessments are sequenced, varied and appropriate for the level of the class. Although I have the same assignments throughout the class (ie. 10 essays), all of the work get more complex as the class goes along. I add variety also through the activities attached to the discussion. I always have them do something, like look for invasive species in their neighborhoods, and then discuss the activity on the discussion board.  The thing you don't want to do here is have a midterm and a final.  That is pretty much the opposite of sequenced and varied.


Finally, Standard 3.5 gives students multiple chances to measure their own learning. This is the standard that, in my experience, people most often fail to meet. The commentary in the rubric notes that this can be met through self tests, interactive games with feedback built in, peer reviews and model papers. I have model papers, but that used to be it. To add more opportunities, I added a second chance on my weekly quiz. Now, instead of getting to take the quiz once, they can take it twice, making the first time a self test. They get the highest of the two scores.  Students LOVE this, it makes them very happy and it was really very easy for me to do. Talk about win/win.


Reference:
Mapping Outcomes in ANGEL in 3 minutes - http://youtu.be/wE3SkSqckk0
Using Rubrics in ANGEL - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL1SZmbcuLc - from Centralia's amazing Kathy Brooks.
Using Rubrics in Canvas - http://guides.instructure.com/s/2204/m/4210/l/40813-what-are-rubrics-in-canvas-video 
See the links in the Navigation bar for links to my class, the Quality Matters Rubric and more.

Back to the Course map

A couple of days ago, I posted about using Canvas for my American Government class. I forgot to add, however, that it is way too early to actually be putting things in the LMS. I am still working on my course map, which is limited by the fact that I am still working on my module level outcomes.  Once I have sketched out my module level outcomes and my initial ways of measuring the achievement of those outcomes (the assessments), then I'll have a basis for selecting my materials.

Now, I know this seems convoluted and backwards. But if we are really centered on outcomes and student learning, then the outcomes and measurement needs to be at the beginning, not at the end.

That being said, I'm a bit behind (the story of my life!). I can't believe I'm already into week 4 of this project. My course map should be mostly done at this point, so I'm giving myself a goal to get it finished this week. Stay tuned!

Resources:
American Government Course Map
Blank Course Map 

Getting Started with a Course Map

It's time to start actually planning this class. The last time I taught American Government, it was around 2003, so this is essentially a new prep for me. If I was doing things the way I used to, I'd start by hunting for a book. But that is actually a step that is a ways down the path. The first step really is my course outcomes.  Now, I'll be honest with you - I taught for years before even really reading my course outcomes. They certainly were not the starting point of my course planning process.  But, as a Quality Matters master reviewer, I now know that the course outcomes are what it's all about.

I’ve been working as an instructional designer in the Open Course Library and we’re using a great Course Map that is really making course planning easy, systematic and outcomes based. I’m all about easy, so this is what I’ll be using.  Here is a link to the course map.  I'll start filling out my version this week and share it out with you.