2.4 Planning Learning Activities: Types of Interaction
So far in this module, in working through the backward design process, you've asked, "what do I want the students to learn?" and "how will I, and the students, know if they are learning?" In other words, you've focused on aligning the student learning outcomes with the assessments. Let's take a look now at the last phase of backward design, planning the learning activities, with an eye toward learning activities that allow for flexible student participation (whether your students are attending in the classroom, remotely, or some combination thereof).
Here are some of the keys to developing effective learning activities that we'll consider as you work through the remaining modules:
include opportunities for active learning
allow for different types of interaction
make activities sequential so each one builds on the preceding one
include useful feedback on the activities, and
include opportunities for students to think and reflect on what they are learning, how they are learning, and the significance of what they are learning.
Promote Active Engagement - Three Types of Interaction
Keeping students actively engaged with you, the content, and each other promotes student success. When students are observing, doing, communicating, and reflecting, they are actively working with concepts and people. We describe these activities as interactions. Interaction is at the center of the teaching and learning process. Of course, when that process takes place using online tools or asynchronously, the way in which students and faculty interact changes. As we re-think how we approach interaction in remote or blended courses, there are three main types of interaction to consider. While learning activities will differ depending on the content, context, tools, and people involved, there are some strategies that can be incorporated in almost any course to foster interaction.
Instructor-to-student interaction can include both formal direct instruction and more informal mentoring and support. Regular and substantive student-to-instructor interaction is required for courses to not be classified as "correspondence courses" by the US Department of EducationLinks to an external site. and the Higher Learning CommissionLinks to an external site.. During COVID-19, guidance from the Department of Education has again emphasized the importance of student-to-instructor interaction for all remote courses, and this interaction must be instructor-initiated.
For instructor-to-student interaction, options include:
offering synchronous class meetings via Zoom
providing help to individual students or groups during Zoom office hours or exam review sessions
providing feedback on assignments, learning journals, or other reflective activities
participating in Canvas Discussion forums or chats
sending frequent Canvas Announcements to summarize the previous week or describe the next week
mentoring individual learners
sending Canvas inbox messages to struggling students using the "Message students who..." feature
working with small groups of students assigned to help teach portions of the course (peer teaching)
Interaction between students can include formal course-related collaboration and interaction as well as more informal social interaction, which helps increase students' comfort with each other and with creating a positive remote course environment.
For student-to-student interaction, there are options for interacting during live sessions, one-on-one, in a small group or with the whole class, such as:
Any of these examples can be used on a large or a small scale, ranging from term-long project groups doing research and presenting results, to an optional Zoom meeting where those present discuss a short video case or a discussion forum where students brainstorm alternatives to a textbook problem.
Depending on the size of your class, you can encourage student-to-student interaction class-wide or in smaller groups or pairs. When working with smaller groups, it helps to emphasize individual accountability, positive interdependence, and positive interaction in grading the group's work (Kirschner, Strijbos, Kreijns, & Beers, 2004).
This strategy leads to three grades on a group project emphasizing the three aspects of group work:
individual contribution to the group project
synthesis of the individual parts into a project that shows collaboration, consensus, and learning
working together to encourage and facilitate each other's efforts to complete the project
Student-to-content interaction includes students' concrete interactions with the course materials and their more abstract interactions with the concepts and ideas they present. It is more than just reading a book or watching a video. It includes but is not limited to:
Tutorials (using text, still images, audio, and/ or video)
Quizzes (if the feedback is useful and usable)
Web quests (online scavenger hunts to find an example/source/idea)
Reading/video discussion or reflections (reading a textbook is technically a student-to-content activity, but explicitly requiring students to reflect on the reading and providing directed prompts for that reflection improves the interaction)
Simulations
It's helpful to think through the balance of interaction over the entire course. Particularly, providing activities that offer a range of student-student interaction (from substantial to moderate to light to none) allows students with different preferences for the amount of peer interaction to be comfortable at some points and challenged to expand their comfort zone at others.
Synchronous and Asynchronous Options
Whether your course is remote, in-person, or blended you may provide opportunities for instructor-to-student, student-to-student, and student-to-content interaction through both synchronous and asynchronous activities. Use the guide below from OSU's Center for Teaching and Learning to clarify the difference between synchronous and asynchronous activities. This resource is designed to help you think about what mix of the two modes will help your students meet the course's learning objectives, and which will help you to teach most effectively.
Synchronous instruction may feel most appealing because it most closely mimics teaching on-campus. Remember, however, that adding asynchronous components to your course can help to support students who may not have strong internet bandwidth at home, who now live in a different time zone, and who might be experiencing other challenges that prevent them from live class meetings. These students may benefit from synchronous sessions being recorded, from "flipped" lectures, and from interaction with their faculty and fellow students in Canvas discussion forums.
Now that you are familiar with the three types of interaction (student-to-student, student-to-instructor, and student-to-content), you may want to read "Oregon State University Online Education Tips for Student-Centered Remote Teaching." This article includes many more examples of interactive activities that could be used in remote or blended courses.
Promoting a sense of community among students will help to improve the quality of work and learning they can do together during the student-to-student interactions you plan for your course. If you're looking for ideas building community among remote students, check out this Inside Higher Ed article with ideas from professorsLinks to an external site..
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ACTIVITY A: Practice Aligning Assessments to Learning Outcomes 2.5 Planning Learning Activities: Remote and Virtual Labs