Effective online teaching strategies for student success

by Htet Htet Zaw, Pharm.D, PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, Holy Cross Hospital

In the United States, enrollment in online classes grew from 9.6% in 2002 to 33.5% in 2012.  And enrollment continues to grow due to technology and innovations in education. Online delivery of education is very important to adult learners as it enables them to meet family, work, and other responsibilities. Although online learning continues to grow at a quick pace in higher education, faculty members may be reluctant to adopt it and some students may be hesitant to enroll in online courses due to lack of face-to-face contact, a focus on grading rather than learning, and the perceived need for technological expertise.  Success in online classes requires learners to take responsibility for controlling the factors that affect learning and instructors to facilitate successful student learning experiences.^1-6

It is important for the instructors to know their online audience in order to deliver a quality learning experience that meets the needs of all learners. First, the instructor should examine learner demographics and consider culture differences that could affect online learners and their social interactions. Second, consider the unique problems and issues that learners may encounter in the online environment.

During the orientation session, instructors should be very clear about the materials learners will need to complete the course and provide explicit instructions.  This includes a well-developed course syllabus, a list of weekly activities, a description of the assignments and their due dates as well as how to participate in discussion boards, how to access the grade book and instructor feedback, and the instructors’ contact information.

Although providing explicit and well-written instructions will provide a great foundation for an online class, many students will experience a sense of separation that may lead to them to dropping the class or, worse, failing. This is not simply caused by the physical distance between students and instructors but also due to a communication gap and a psychological separation called the transactional distance (TD).  The transactional distance (TD) is a "psychological and communications space to be crossed; a space of potential misunderstanding between the inputs of instructor and those of the learner.’’ To provide a successful learning experience, instructors need to shorten or decrease the transactional distance. There are three key interactive components that work together to shorten the transactional distance:

Dialogue is the amount of interaction that takes place between instructor and student … and student to student. Dialogue and transactional distance are inversely related. The more communication and greater variety of communication strategies that instructor employes to increase dialogue, the smaller the transactional distance. Synchronous teaching activities with real time voice communication, chats and threaded discussion groups are good examples of high dialogue strategies.   Recorded audio and textbooks are examples of low dialogue.

Structure refers to the rigidity or flexibility of the educational objectives, teaching strategies, and evaluation methods, as well as the extent to which an instructor accommodates each individual learner’s needs. It is important to consider the amount of information and degree of challenge presented to the learners. Limiting the amount of supplementary resources and structuring information in chunks can make information easier to process and remember.  Providing clear directions also shortens the transactional distance.

Learner autonomy means the learner, rather than the instructor, determines goals, learning experiences, and evaluation decisions. The level of autonomy required for the learner increases as transactional distance increases since it requires independent learning and self-motivation.^1-6

The diagram above shows how dialog and structure relate to transactional distance. High structure typically means high transactional distance, while high dialogue reflects low transactional distance. This means that as a course the structure increase and communication reduces, the greater the transactional distance. With less structure and more dialog, transactional distance decreases. And as transactional distance increases, a higher level of autonomy is required. Thus, we can design courses for different degrees of learner autonomy by varying dialog and structure. For example, learning autonomy would typically be different in first-year undergraduate courses vs. master degree courses.⁴

TD is closely related to the concept of immediacy — the level of dialogue between the teacher and the student. Immediacy refers to the physical or psychological closeness between student and teacher. One study showed that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between instructor immediacy and student affective learning, cognition, and motivation.³ Instructor can improve immediacy by selecting verbal and non-verbal communication behavior that promote physical or psychological closeness. In an online community, this can be achieved by the word selection of written messages found in emails and discussion forums, use of emoticon, and animated moves to express immediacy behavior. When synchronous web-based teaching method is used, verbal interactions that can improve immediacy includes the use of humor, frequent use of the student's name, using self-disclosures, and letting students share personal examples.²

Another study analyzed various activities in online courses to determine which teaching methods favor teacher-student immediacy. The teaching strategies that can enhance immediacy include creating collaborative activities between students, forums of voluntary participation, and discussion boards as well as asking questions and requesting summaries. The study also found that replying quickly to student questions or requests — on the same day — created a sense of “online” closeness between the students and teachers.²

Although there is no face-to-face contact, instructors can design courses where learners can master the course content as well as improve their problem solving and critical thinking skills. Understanding transactional distance and utilizing strategies that increase immediacy can increase the chances of success.

References:

1. Andrade MS. Teaching online: A theory-based approach to student success. Oream, Utah: Journal of Education and Training Studies [Internet]. 2015 3(5):1-9.
2. Fahara MF, Castro AL. Teaching strategies to promote immediacy in online graduate courses. Open Praxis [Internet]. 2015;7:363-76.
3. Baker C. The impact of instructor immediacy and presence for online student affective learning, cognition, and motivation. Journal of Educators Online [Internet]. 2010;7: Article 1.
4. Moore, M. G. Towards a theory of independent learning and teaching. Journal of Higher Education,[Internet]. 1973: 44; 661-679.
5. Kushnir LP, Berry KC. Inside, Outside, Upside Down: New Directions in Online Teaching and Learning. International Association for Development of the Information Society; 2014 July 01 [cited 2016 March 15]
6. Teaching Online [Internet]. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University 2015.
7. Stavredes, T. Effective online teaching: foundations and strategies for student success. [Internet]. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass, 2011.

The Benefit of Student-Generated Questions

by Theresa Brush, Pharm.D., PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Resident, Suburban Hospital

How many times have you sat in a classroom and had an instructor ask, “Do you have any questions?” What follows, most often, is silence. The silence does not necessarily indicate a lack of interest by students, but they may feel uncomfortable asking questions or have not sufficiently digested the information in order to even ask one. A possible solution to this problem has been explored — student generated questions.

Questions are such an integral part learning.  Indeed, “the act of asking questions and the consequent search for answers is key to active learning.”¹ Student-generated questions are exactly as the name implies; students create their own questions regarding the subject matter and this, in turn, directs their learning.

But how can we help students create good questions?  One of the methods that has been successfully used to develop student-generated questions is called the Question Formulation Technique (QFT).² The QFT is a step-by-step process that helps students learn how to produce their own questions, improve them, and strategize how to use them. This six-step process includes:

1. The Teacher Designs the Question Focus

• The teacher presents a Question Focus in the form of a statement, visual, or auditory stimulus that focuses and attracts student attention. This focus is not in the form of a question but rather a prompt from which students develop questions.

2. Students Brainstorm Questions

• Working in small groups, students brainstorm and record lots of questions. Students produce as many questions as they can.  They should not stop to discuss, judge, or answer any of the questions.  The questions should be written down exactly as stated.  Any statements should be changed into questions.

3. Students Improve Their Questions

• Students then improve their questions by categorizing them into one of two categories:  open-ended and close-ended.  At this point the teacher should have a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of both types. Students are then asked to change at least one of their open-ended questions into a closed-ended question.  And vice versa. This step furthers students’ understanding of how the phrasing of questions can affect the depth, quality, and value of the answer.

4. Students Prioritize Their Questions

• The teacher then offers criteria or guidelines for selecting questions. For example, the criteria may be, “Choose the three questions you want to explore further.” Students then select their priority questions based on the criteria.

5. Students and Teachers Decide on Next Steps

• Students and teachers decide together on how to use the questions. For instance, the questions may be used to stimulate discussion during the next class.

6. Students Reflect on What They Have Learned

• The teacher reviews the steps of the QTC and has students reflect on what they have learned through the process.

This method of having students develop their own questions encourages them to go deeper into their thinking and (hopefully) develop a new thirst for learning.² One study demonstrated the impact of student-generated questions on learning.³ In an undergraduate psychology course, students were given the opportunity to earn extra credit by submitting questions to the instructor concerning the material covered in class the previous week. The questions could be regarding concepts that were unclear, additional information the student would like to explore, or how the issue applies to other courses or relates to other concepts. The performance of students who developed questions was compared to students who did not write questions. The results demonstrated that the slope of improvement in performance on the exams was directly proportional to the number of questions generated. These results provide some evidence regarding the effectiveness of student-generated questioning to motivate learning and promote deeper understanding.

Not only have student-generated questions helped improve students’ understanding of course material, but student-generated questions can be used to evaluate and assess students’ learning. Instructors can use student-generated questions to construct multiple-choice examinations and open-ended essay questions.⁴ Learning activities that involve student-generated questions help students shift from merely acquiring knowledge (from the teacher) to learning knowledge (self-directed learning), increasing their confidence about the subject matter, and promoting more diverse and flexible thinking.⁵  However, student-generated assessment questions have been criticized because it forces students to focus their attention on finding details in the material around which they can construct questions.  This may limit their understanding of the material and they may not comprehend “the big picture.” If a teacher uses this technique, awareness of this criticism should force the instructor to use a set of parameters for students to follow when creating questions.  Moreover, students should be encouraged to give feedback on how to improve the use of this technique.

Techniques to improve student-generated questions can be used to enhance class participation and engagement as well as to construct evaluations and assessments. This QFT is a great tool for instructors to have within their toolbox and promotes deeper learning.

References:

1. Chin C. Student-Generated Questions: Encouraging Inquisitive Minds in Learning Science. Teaching and Learning [Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2016 Feb 3];23(1):59-67.

1. Rothstein D, Santana Luz. Teaching Student to Ask Their Own Questions [Internet]. Cambridge (MA):Harvard Education Letter; 2011 Sep [cited 2016 Feb 3].

1. Berry JW, Chew SL. Improving Learning Through Interventions of Student-Generated Questions and Concept Maps. Teaching of Psychology. 2008;35:305-312.

1. Pittenger AL, Lounsbery JL. Student-Generated Questions to Assess Learning in an Online Orientation to Pharmacy Course. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2011;75(5) Article 94.

1. Yu FY. Scaffolding student-generated questions: Design and development of a customizable online learning system. Computers in Human Behavior. 2009;25:1129-1138.