Lessons Learned...So Far.

Going textbook free AND using the learning pod classroom has created some conflicting emotions. While it is very exciting and in some ways invigorating, it has not come without some anxiety and apprehension. Below are a list of mistakes notes I have made this term. I am already thinking how I can improve this learning experience for students next spring that will be implemented.

1. Providing too many resources can be overwhelming for students.  I had found so many great OER for students to use, I gave all of them to the students. Well that seemed to confuse them, so I  narrowed their resources to a lecture series pod cast (which the out of class study guides are based on) and a free e-book on the Introduction to Psychology (which is the same book I used in the past, but an earlier edition, when it was free, so no copyright infraction, it is still an OER).

2. Give them in-class worksheets that they can use to prepare for the tests.  After they have completed the study guide outside of class, that information needs to be reinforced inside of class, so we do activities to do just that. At first, the in-class worksheets were only basic questions that were pretty open ended, i.e., create a historical timeline for psychology, and I found that they were all over the place and finding many things like, the first British psychological organization was developed. So I decided to change the question where I gave them very specific things on the historical time line (schools of thought and famous psychologist) all mixed up and they had to put them in order and explain why they were important to the discipline's history. The items I gave them, were all on the test, so they were able to take that worksheet and directly prepare for the exam.

3. Provide very specific guidance on what the exam will cover. As a result of the issue above, I started creating a review sheet for the test. After each class I add to the document (it is a shared document on OneDrive) based on what was covered that day. Without a book and traditional lectures to guide them, students felt a bit confused on how to prepare and this seems to have alleviated that. They can take their worksheets, and study guides to answer the review sheet questions. They also know that anything on that review sheet will definitely be on that test.

4. Make sure you have built in review days. I did not build in review days this semester and I am really kicking myself. We do take the last 20 minutes of the class prior to a test and do a quick review. It has helped the students focus on what they need to learn and understand, but also decreases their anxiety about having no real book or lecture notes.

5. How to get them to all pay attention while in their groups. At the end of class, I would take one in-class worksheet from each group, Xerox it, and then use that to grade everyone (everything we do in class is done by "teams"). I found the same people were giving me their study guides, while others in their group didn't even fill it out. To fix this, I told the students that they would not know whose in-class worksheet I would take at the end of class to grade. So students MUST work together. They must make sure everyone in the group has the correct answer, because any team members work may be what their grade is based on that day. Now everyone is filling out the worksheet AND making sure everyone else in their group is filling it out, and understanding the answers as well.

6. Be prepared for something not to work. My last lesson to share, is not everything works how I conceptualize it. The poor class that meets first is much like the proverbial "first child." It is a wonder how they survive first time parents. Everything that goes wrong in my first section, gets corrected by the time I get to my second section of the class and so far, my corrections have paid off.

This is a new way of reaching students, and so far, in my opinion, it has worked. I just graded their second exam and the average test score went from a 74 to an 86 with a standard deviation of 18 and 17 respectively. It has made me wonder if the exam was too easy or if strongly guided experiential learning is truly the key for our students. Guess I will find out next exam, when it is over more material and some of the most difficult stuff, Neuropsychology!

My next blog will be a video cast attempt, so I will be able to show you some of the items I use in Moodle and how I have structured the course for the students. TTYS!!