Blended Learning Impacting Student Learning

UMass Dartmouth has been engaged in a 3-year grant funded project to develop faculty skills in blended teaching, as well as assessment practices. This project brings together the resources and expertise of the campus Office of Faculty Development with the Instructional Development Team, a team devoted to integrating instructional technologies into the learning experience, to aid faculty in developing courses that blend face-to-face interactions with online learning activities that create a culture of assessment and reflection focused on facilitating and improving student learning. The grant funded project ("Implementation of Blended Learning for the Improvement of Student Learning" / IBIS) is a multi-pronged approach that involves blended and online learning techniques to engage faculty in the development of effective teaching materials and to assist faculty in developing effective blended learning strategies that also actively assess the impact the blend has on student learning. The project is based on the belief that only through a thorough-going process of both faculty training and quality assessment that deep and transformative student learning can be produced. Simply adding the bells and whistles of current technology to already existing classes - an add and stir model - will not achieve student outcomes of value. To this end, UMass Dartmouth created a targeted Faculty program to develop faculty experience in implementing best teaching and learning practices in web-enhanced and blended general education courses. Faculty invested in general education courses are selected for the program and guided collaboratively by the Academic Director of Online Education, Office of Faculty Development Director, and the Instructional Development Team. This presentation highlights the experiences and results of three faculty as they share their training experiences, course design and execution experiences, assessment plans, and assessment outcomes with the audience. Presenters will showcase examples of courses that were redesigned during summer 2010 and taught in fall 2010. Complimenting the course (re)design examples will be assessment data, both qualitative and quantitative, gathered over the semester. Data was gathered from student surveys and focus groups, as well as from rubrics developed for course assignments. Faculty presenters will highlight training experiences, course design and execution experiences, assessment plans, and assessment outcomes. Specific session goals include: 1. Demonstrate impact of faculty development on faculty engagement with blended course (re)design 2. Demonstrate impact of faculty development on faculty engagement with assessment that produces effective qualitative and/or quantitative data on student learning 3. Provide models for course (re)design and assessment practices Attendees will learn: 1. Value of faculty training programs that combine blended teaching and learning strategies with development in assessment strategies 2. Three effective course approaches for engaging students in blended learning experiences that lead to deeper learning and/or improved student learning behaviors. 3. Practical assessment strategies for blended courses designed to analyze the effectiveness of the integration of instructional technologies into the learning experience (handouts provided with additional examples) Ultimately, the presentation will showcase how developed support for faculty training and collaboration leads to more effective course designs and delivery that in turn positively affect student learning outcomes.