Teaching, Learning & Technology in Higher Education : Measuring Learning

Jim's Top Three Tips for Writing Successful Grant Proposals

jgvanides — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:40:00 GMT

Once people discover what I do for a living, it's only natural that people want to know, "How do I get a grant from HP?" Other than the obvious, "Read the Request for Proposals carefully and answer the questions...", here are my Top Three Tips for your consideration...

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Classroom/Audience polling via SMS, Web, and Twitter - Polleverywhere.com has it all

jgvanides — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:52:00 GMT

Those of you who have been following my blog know I'm a big fan of "knowing what your students don't know in real time" so we can help them get over their misconception hurdles. While I mostly talk about real-time graphical response through tablet pcs (DyKnow, InkSurvey, Classroom Presenter, etc.), I can't discount the importance of simple polling. Polleverwhere.com just made it even easier...

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More Evidence that Digital Ink is Significant - Nat'l Univ reports results

jgvanides — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:15:00 GMT

For those of you wondering about the significance of "digital ink", Dr. Ron Uhlig at National University (San Diego, California, USA) has collected some rather compelling evidence - and a great example of the use of tablet pcs... ...(read more)

Tablet PCs vs. Traditional Whiteboards for Active Learning - paper from CSU San Marcos

jgvanides — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:37:00 GMT

Edward Price, Chuck De Leone, and Robin Marion from California State University in San Marcos, have been using Tablet PCs from their HP Technology for Teaching grant to explore how they might compare to traditional whiteboards in support of students working in groups. With the help of Ubiquitous Presenter software, some interesting results are beginning to emerge......(read more)

Making Classrooms More Interactive Improves Learning Outcomes at Elizabeth City State U

jgvanides — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:12:00 GMT

Dr. Kuldeep Rawat has been the Principal Investigator for a 2007 HP Technology for Teaching grant at Elizabeth City State University (North Carolina, USA). Their goals was to enhance student learning by increasing the "interactivity" of courses such as Engineering Technology, Circuits, and Analog Electronics. The results were impressive - and well documented by Dr. Rawat... ...(read more)

How Faculty are Using Clickers

jgvanides — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:28:00 GMT

Rick Reis from the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning, has a great newsletter called "Tomorrow's Professor". Not long ago he shared a recent article on clickers, which was an excerpt of "Teaching with Clickers" by Erping Zhu (University of Michigan, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching). While I am clearly biased towards the power of classroom interaction through Tablet PCs because they support open-ended, diagramatic feedback, clickers are much simpler and clearly have an important role to play.......(read more)

It’s a Beautiful Day! Good News from Grant Recipients…

jgvanides — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:50:00 GMT

This is one of my favorite seasons of the year. Not only is the weather in Northern California absolutely gorgeous (mornings around 65f/18c, blue skies, light ocean breeze), but it’s also the time of year when I have the joy of reading project update...(read more)

Presentations & Posters from 2008 HP Technology for Teaching Worldwide HiEd Conference

jgvanides — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:47:00 GMT

The annual HP Technology for Teaching Worldwide Higher Education Conference is one of my all-time favorite events. It seems like just a short time ago we met in February for 2 days – 138 faculty from 21 countries, sharing their expertise and excitement about using technology to enhance the learner experience in their courses. I wish ALL of you could have been there.

Thanks to ISTE.org, our conference partner, you can now view the video archives of the 7 featured presentations, and view the posters from the poster session...

Featured in this set of videos that you can stream and view online from ISTE:

Assessing the Effectiveness of Tablet PC’s in a Higher Education Environment - Featured speakers:Joseph G. Tront, PhD, Deborah Olsen, PhD, Virginia Tech
Beyond the Prototype: Generating Campus-Wide Buy-in for a Tablet Option - Featured Speakers: Dr. Dave Berque; Carol L. Smith, Terri Bonebright, PhD, DePauw University
Introducing Tablet PCs to the Classroom: Course-Specific Impact in Engineering and Computer Science - Featured Speakers: Lisa G. Huettel, PhD, Duke University
Improvement of an Information System’s Course Through the Application of Mobile Learning Technology - Featured Speakers: Alejandro Orero, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid
Tablet PCs as Mobile Multimedia Data Collection and Analysis Tools - Featured Speakers: Malu Roldan, PhD, San Jose State University
Teach and Learn with Technologies in a Mobile Campus for Engineers - Featured Speakers: Luc Mariaux and Jean-Pierre Berthet, L'Ecole Centrale de Lyon
Measuring Learning Instructional Presentation - Featured Speakers: Gloria M. Rogers, PhD, Associate Executive Director of ABET

The conference also included a poster session where new grant recipients could discuss their project plans. If you are interested in seeing the breadth of projects that are underway (most are just getting started, so the posters are “works in progress”), feel free to download the “Poster Book” (27Mb PDF) and the companion “Index by Keywords” (100Kb PDF).

Enjoy! Post a comment and let us know what you think of the conference archives!

PS: The 2009 HP Technology for Teaching Worldwide Higher Education Conference is scheduled for 22-24 February 2009. New grant recipients are funded by HP to send one representative – but there are a limited number of spaces available for self-funded participants. Feel free to contact us for more information.

Jim Vanides, B.S.M.E, M.Ed.
Program Manager - Worldwide Higher Education Grants
HP Global Social Investment
Hewlett-Packard

For information about the HP Technology for Teaching philanthropy initiative in higher education, visit www.hp.com/go/hpteach-hied

Top Ten Teaching and Learning Issues (Educause Quarterly)

jgvanides — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:13:00 GMT

A colleague just referred me to a thought-provoking article that ran recently in the Educause Quarterly. John Campbell (Purdue) and Diana Oblinger (Educause Learning Initiative), and colleagues, provide us with a thoughtful list of important issues faced by academic technology professionals…

The article, “Top-Ten Teaching and Learning Issues, 2007”, was written by the EDUCAUSE Advisory Committee for Teaching and Learning (ACTL). Their objective is that the “…critical issues in teaching and learning identified here will help our community create professional development opportunities and programs that effectively address the needs of the “Instruction 2.0” world…”

Topping their list is one of my favorite issues, “#1 - Establishing and supporting a culture of evidence”. Student success outcomes, whether driven by accreditation bodies or government agencies, are in the spotlight like never before. Of course, for those of you who know me, I’m far more interested in the “culture of formative evidence” that helps teachers teach and students learn – as contrasted by the incessant emphasis on summative assessment that gives a rear-view mirror snapshot after the learning has ceased.

Also on their list is “#3 - Translating learning research into practice”. They describe a novel approach: “Perhaps our greatest challenge as academic technologists in moving learning research into practice is finding active learning techniques that meet faculty’s needs. Rather than telling faculty about learning research, perhaps we should create ways for them to experience it.”

The article is terrific – I highly recommend you take a look. Thanks, John and Diana!

Jim Vanides, B.S.M.E, M.Ed.
Program Manager - Worldwide Higher Education Philanthropy
Hewlett-Packard

For information about the HP Technology for Teaching philanthropy initiative in higher education, visit www.hp.com/go/hpteach-hied

Tablet PCs in Education – Compelling Examples in Updated WIPTE Book

jgvanides — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:48:00 GMT

I frequently get asked for examples of how tablet PCs can be used in the classroom. In addition to my own “Gallery” of higher education projects funded by HP grants, there is a second edition of what I call The WIPTE Books – featuring exemplary papers presented at Purdue earlier this summer…

This most recent edition is a compilation of the best papers from the 2nd annual WIPTE conference, entitled “The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen-based Technology on Education, 2007: Beyond the Tipping Point” http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Tablet-Pen-based-Technology-Education/dp/1557534616/ref=sr_1_2/002-9463136-9119202?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184166156&sr=1-2.

The first edition was published under the title, “The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen-based Technology on Education: Vignettes, Evaluations, and Future Directions” (http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Tablet-Pen-based-Technology-Education/dp/1557534349/ref=sr_1_1/002-9463136-9119202?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184166156&sr=1-1).

I highly recommend both books. When you get a chance to read them, let me know what you think!

Tablets & Math – Clemson Univ Talk Available Online

jgvanides — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:33:00 GMT

We just had a fantastic HP Online Speaker Series presentation by Marilyn Reba and Roy Pargas of Clemson University, discussing "Using Tablet PCs and Web-based Software to Enable Active Learning in Mathematics Classrooms"...

If you missed the session or want to share it with your colleagues, the University of Wisconsin has kindly posted their recording of the event online at http://www.uwex.edu/ics/stream/uwc-rock/hp/.

If you have any followup questions for Marilyn or Roy, feel free to submit it as a comment to this blog.

Thanks, Marilyn and Roy – the “emerging evidence” of how your redesigned math courses are DEMONSTRABLY assisting lower-performing students is very encouraging…

Online, Real-Time Office Hours – Tablet PC + Elluminate

jgvanides — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:30:00 GMT

Gary Dietz from Elluminate has posted on his blog an interview with Dr. Ricky Cox, an HP Technology for Teaching grant recipient at Murray State University (Kentucky, USA). Ricky describes how inking makes it easy to conduct real-time office hours with students.

See http://elluminate.edublogs.org/2007/03/09/tablet-pc-and-real-time-office-hours/ to watch and listen to the interview.

Many thanks to Ricky and Gary for sharing this!

Jim Vanides, BSME, M.Ed.
Program Manager - Worldwide Higher Education Philanthropy
Hewlett-Packard

For information about the HP Technology for Teaching philanthropy initiative in higher education, visit www.hp.com/go/hpteach-hied

Measuring Learning - Overcoming the Challenge

jgvanides — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 21:30:00 GMT

We all know how hard it is to measure learning, especially in the context of evaluating the impact new technology that is integrated into a learning experience. To help overcome this challenge, SRI’s Center for Technology in Learning has just released a draft Guidebook. It’s short, it’s practical, and it’s free!

The “whitepaper” that SRI created, with funding from HP, is called “Measuring Learning: A guidebook for gathering and interpreting evidence” (Linda Shear, et al). It is a great attempt at condensing decades of learning sciences into a practical, step-by-step guide for you to refer to when you’re planning a technology implementation project – and you’d like to measure the impact it will have on your students.

It’s in draft form, and SRI welcomes your comments. Feel free to download a free PDF at http://ctl.sri.com/projects/displayProject.jsp?Nick=hpguide.

Please feel free to post a comment here, too. I’m curious what you think about it!

Project Webpages – Carnegie Foundation Helps HP Grant Recipients

jgvanides — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:52:00 GMT

Last year I started asking higher education grant recipients to start creating public webpages to describe their HP Technology for Teaching grant-supported projects. The purpose is to raise the visibility of the projects while encouraging the participating faculty to reflect on the progress and impact of the project. Thanks to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, there is an easy way to do this.

Dr. Toru Iiyoshi leads the Knowledge Media Lab at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/KML/), where they have created a template-driven system for faculty to create one page, web-based “snapshots” of various projects. This system is called CFKEEP (www.cfkeep.org). With Dr. Iiyoshi’s guidance, I created a project template (http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=15231596320152) that grant recipients use to describe their projects. The Principle Investigator simply answers the questions in the template, and a project webpage is created. The questions are designed to stimulate reflection regarding the design of the project and the approach to measuring the impact on teaching and learning.

Dr Iiyoshi has kindly granted permission to HP grant recipients to use CFKEEP to create project webpages. If you would like to learn more about CFKEEP and how HP grant recipients are benefiting from this system, you can read the Case Study written by the Carnegie Foundation (http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/gallery_of_tl/
transforming_teaching_and_learning_through_the_effective_
use_of_innovative_technology.html).

To read about HP Technology for Teaching projects, many of which are described using the CFKEEP web system, visit our higher education “gallery” at www.hp.com/go/hpteach-hied.

Feel free to post a comment if you have any questions.

Enjoy!

Are we there yet? – Using student assessment to study technology in the classroom

jgvanides — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 23:58:00 GMT

For those of us interested in making a measurable, positive impact on student learning, it’s time we take a close look at assessment. I’m not talking just about testing and grading – I’m talking about using the best of what is known about measuring learning to guide the design and evaluation of course redesign projects that are trying to use technology to enhance teaching. If you’re ready to take a new look at what students are learning in your classroom, there are some great resources available.

Paul Black (King’s College, London) is one of my favorite researchers on the topic of assessment. In an often understated way, he has profound things to say about the importance of FORMATIVE assessment – knowing what your students know in real-time, so that teachers can do a better job of scaffolding student learning. While high stakes tests loom large in every student’s experience, it’s the formative assessments that really help them learn.

While much of his research and publishing is related to pre-college practice, his guidance rings true for undergraduates, too. I recommend “Working Inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom” http://www.amazon.co.uk/Working-Inside-Black-Box-Assessment/dp/0708713793/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/203-8442460-0521504 and “Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment” http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inside-Black-Box-Standards-Assessment/dp/0708713815/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/203-8442460-0521504

I am also intrigued by the growing trend by higher education accreditation boards to look at Student Outcomes as part of the criteria for accreditation. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (www.abet.org) is one such organization. Gloria Rogers, formerly responsible for assessment at Rose-Hullman, is now ABET's Associate Executive Director of Professional Services. Her webpage on assessment resources is excellent (http://www.abet.org/assessment.shtml), offering practical support for higher education faculty. Dr. Rogers is also offering workshops on assessment for faculty who want to advance their understanding and use of assessment to drive improvements in student learning. If you are embarking on a course or program redesign to drive improvements in student learning, I highly recommend that you sign up for a Faculty Workshop on Assessing Program Outcomes (http://www.abet.org/workshop.shtml).

You may also be interested in the Tomorrow’s Professor blog, a collaboration between MIT and Stanford. While the blog covers a variety of topics related to the scholarship of teaching in higher education, I found a recent post to be of particular interest. ” Using the Assessment Process to Improve Doctoral Programs” ( http://amps-tools.mit.edu/tomprofblog/archives/2007/01/765_using_the_a.html#more) is a chapter in a book by Kelly Funk and Karen L. Klomparens entitled “The Assessment of Doctoral Education Emerging Criteria and New Models for Improving Outcomes”, edited by Peggy L. Maki and Nancy A. Borkowski. The chapter describes how important it is for administrators to take a leadership role when it comes to assessment, and they provide some excellent, practical suggestions.

I think that trying something new in our classrooms (like a new curriculum or a new technology), when we have a well thought out plan to measure its impact on students, is a great formula for forward progress. This is why I place such importance in our higher education grant programs on measuring the impact that funded projects are having on student learning. Once our view of student assessment shifts from “how we give grades” to “how we help students learn”, I think we’ll see even greater student success.

If you are aware of other assessment research or resources, please post a comment and share your recommendations with us!