Institutional transformation:

1. Institutional transformation: The Next Generation Course redesignTM Project AASCU Conference – Portland, OR July 28, 2011

2. Today’s Goals • Share why UNT changed its approach to undergraduate instruction • Describe how the Next Generation Course Redesign Project works at UNT • Demonstrate parts of NGen courses • Discuss barriers to course redesign • Challenge you to think about course redesign at your institution

3. Why redesign large enrollment courses? • Bad News – the “Perfect Storm” • High DFWI rates • Demographics – higher and more diverse enrollments • Financial factors – tuition cannot keep exceeding CPI • Accountability • Good News • Knowledge of learning • Emergence of digital tools

4. What we know about learning • We know that, if we provide an active learning experience that allows students to engage with • course content • each other, and • instructors, they can and will think critically and develop cognitively

5. Goals of the UNT NGen Project • Improve student learning outcomes in large enrollment undergraduate courses • To have a university-wide impact through the establishment of a Community of Practice • Create a redesign process that is sustainableand replicable

6. (Translation) Goals • Students think, work hard, like what they are doing, get good grades that mean something, and graduate • Doesn’t cost more and uses less space • Faculty enjoy and believe in the process

7. UNT’s Transformational QEP Goal

8. Next Generation Redesign isa team process • Faculty teams redesign 4-6 courses per year • Two-year commitment • Occurs within an interdisciplinary community of practice • Senior Faculty Fellows • “Choreographed” • Retreats and monthly meetings with faculty and staff • Institution-wide forums • End-of-pilot and project meetings

9. Steps in the NGen redesign process

10. The “building blocks” of NGen courses • NGen courses consist of a “blend” of the following: • Large group lectures: 0% – 30% of contact hours • Small group experiential learning: 30% – 60% of contact hours • Media-rich interactive online environment: 30% - 50% of contact hours

11. In NGen, lectures are best used to: • Create interest and motivation and provide assurance that students can be successful • Clarify and expand upon (rather than deliver) content • Model the acquisition of knowledge in the field • “How does a chemist/sociologist approach a research question?” • Present the critical lower level concepts to provide scaffolding for higher level concepts

12. What is experiential learning? • The major goal is the acquisition of higher-level abstract concepts and values • The instructor plays a vital and purposeful role in the process • Experiential learning has two equally important parts • Concrete experiences • Guided reflection

13. In NGen, experiential learning activitiesare best used to: • Introduce an emotional component • Brain-based learning • Analyze, evaluate, and synthesize • Present and defend newly-acquired hypotheses

14. A simple concept, but easily misapplied…

15. Developing successfulexperiential learning activities See handout

16. Experiential Learning activitiesvary in complexity • Level of complexity is driven by: • Complexity of GLO’s/sLO’s • Flexibility of the classroom • Time available • Instructional support • Examples • Simple: Think-Pair-Share • Moderate: Parts of a cell beauty pageant • Complex: Competitive simulation game

17. Experiential learning example:Dam It! • Competitive simulation game that lasts for one month • Students play one of three roles dealing with the historic HetchHetchy dam project: • Member of U.S. Senate Committee on Public Lands • Preservationist – e.g., John Muir • Conservationist – e.g., Colonel John Biddle • Students reenact the public hearing and committee vote

18. In NGen, online learning activitiesare best used to: • Acquire lower-level learning to free up time for in-class experiential learning • Chunk content to overcome working memory limits • Provide low-stakes assessments such as quizzes for practice and confidence building

19. Online learning example:U.S. History II • Providing the foundation for the HetchHetchy “Dam It” simulation game • Specific context • Background readings • Character descriptions (special website) • Online course content on the Progressive Era

20. UNT currently offers 19 NGen courses Six new courses will start the redesign process this fall

21. Faculty Perspective Dr. Brenda McCoy

22. Change what or who? • “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it • Good teaching evaluations • Well-rated on “Pick-a-Prof,” but what does that really mean? • It’s getting harder to cover material in all types of courses • Students are not reading—slowing lecture and class discussions • Plagiarism is becoming common and writing skills are deteriorating • Critical thinking skills have been declining

23. Imagine! • Away from blame • Trying to imagine what is needed to engage my students • Verstehen • Trying to understand or imagine how my students must see the classroom and the world • Coming to grips with the idea that the “train is leaving the station…” • The social changes are profound and I must adapt if I want to be on board

24. Just “Google it” • It has never been easier to find “answers” • We have become addicted to “Google” • Our studentshave never known another way • Radical impact on higher education • “The professor is an idiot—I just fact-checked him…” • “Why do I need to learn that? I can look it up when I need it.” • The shape of “Gen Y” and later generations • Long on answers, but short on experience Doodle 4 Google Matteo Lopez, age 7 2011 National Winner

25. Experience! • Confucius • I hear and I forget. • I see and I remember. • I do and I understand. • Facilitate student discovery • How can I structure a situation so that students experience collective action? • How can students easily draw random samples of different sizes and explore varying results? • How can I get students to espouse a position based on personal investment rather than repeat “sound-bites?”

26. Soci 1510 then…and now • Online textbook and testing • Online learning objects • 8 -10 sections taught each semester • Large classes: 100 – 120 students • Less “sage on the stage” and more “guide on the side” N-Gen Redesign Old System

27. Sociology 1510 • We use 8 different activities • Group size varies from 5 – 50 • Different degrees of length and complexity • Examples: • Flash mobs • Semester-long project on collective behavior which students plan and execute • Survey questions • Using clickers, students respond to survey items and evaluate what happens when the wording is slightly altered • Philosophy of Individualism • Students explore their feelings about “free-riders” and the process of creating policy

28. Learn! • “Who dares to teach, must never cease to learn.” (John Cotton Dana) • Ever-changing subject content • New pedagogical approaches—not “shiny-object” syndrome • From our students • Wiki-world: the brave new world for the academy

29. There is “push-back” • “Now can we stop playing games and learn Physics” (Wieman, 2006) • “Active learning…is a philosophy and movement that portents trouble for the future of higher education and the professoriate. It is longer good enough to teach well; instead, professors must be ready to embrace newly developed methods of ‘engagement,’ even as class enrollments skyrocket. The ‘new professor’ must make large classes as entertaining as video games—or else take students out for coffee and memorize their hobbies.” (Mattson, 2005) • “I just can’t take the ‘me’ out of my teaching.” (Frustrated NGen Fellow, 2009)

30. Dilemma! If I use experiential learning in my class, how am I going to “cover” all the material?

31. There are significant challenges • Once you move beyond the small circle of innovators, there are formidable challenges • Lack of rewards • Hostility to change • Scheduling problems • Research vs. teaching demands • Entrenched and comfortable pedagogy • Lack of resources to produce online materials

32. Addressing the Challenges • Extended Redesign Project • Currently 9 years • Nurturing Communities of Practice • Offer “NGen Lite” opportunity • Redesign single unit • Summer-long project • Retains assessment expectations

33. Addressing the Challenges • Working to change the recognition/reward system • Creation of professional career track for instructors • Development of institution-wide teaching assessment • Revision of workload documents

34. Addressing the Challenges • Creation of a Core Academy • Separate academic unit under the Dean for Undergraduate Instruction • Faculty are full-time instructors in a professional track • Faculty report to the Core Academy but are co-hired by the department • Department receives SCHs for their courses taught in the Core Academy • Serves as a “Beta” site for NGen Courses

35. Addressing the Challenges • Creating student demand for change • Presentation to advisors • Promotional items • Website • Billboards

36. Enabling TransformativeCourse Redesign: 3 P’s

37. Discussion For more information: Dr. Philip Turner Philip.Turner@unt.edu Dr. Brenda McCoy Brenda.McCoy@unt.edu Next Generation Course Redesign Peter Lang Publishing