Evaluation in the course development process

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris Van de Poel ◽  
Jessica Gasiorek

Evaluation is a critical but frequently underutilized part of the (language) course development process. Instructors’ reasons for avoiding it vary, but often include the concern that conducting evaluations will draw time and attention away from course content. Using All Write, a first-year writing course at the University of Antwerp, as a case study, this article shows how mechanisms for feedback and evaluation can be incorporated into course materials with minimal impact, as well as demonstrates the benefits of evaluation as both a validation process and a guide for course revision. Moreover, it will show how the stakeholders, primarily learners, but also teachers, may be drawn into the process and potentially benefit from it.

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (11) ◽  
pp. 530
Author(s):  
B. Grantham Aldred

As many of yours surely have, my institution, the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), moved at great speed to adapt to the need for online instruction this fall. This has proved a challenge for library instruction, to put it mildly. Our library instruction has almost exclusively been in-person, on-site, and live, and the switch to online and hybrid course delivery has made all of those aspects difficult, especially when it comes to courses offered asynchronously, where students engage with course content at different points in time within a given timeframe.


2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (11) ◽  
pp. 616
Author(s):  
Catherine Tingelstad ◽  
Heather McCullough

At the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, instructional designers and research and instruction librarians have similar goals yet unique roles and distinct responsibilities. There are eight instructional designers at the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) who use learning theory and design knowledge to work with faculty to plan and create online courses. At the university’s Atkins Library, 16 instruction librarians, including subject liaisons and first-year writing specialists, connect with faculty and students to further understanding of information literacy and research resources. Recognizing the groups’ common goals of partnering with faculty in course development and creating high-quality online learning resources, group administrators have launched an initiative to introduce the designers and librarians to each other and to their work.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-88
Author(s):  
Catherine Prendergast

This article reports on the multi-year collaboration between the Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI) at the University of Illinois and the University's Rhetoric Program, a required first-year writing course. I argue that this collaboration was successful in large part because the goals of writing programmes in American higher education settings – teaching the process of research, inviting students to see themselves as producers of knowledge and fostering collaboration between peers – are highly consonant with principles of EUI. Indeed, my own history with EUI reflects the parallel commitment of Writing Studies and the methods and goals of EUI. I suggest that EUI can serve as a powerful model for universities if they seek to place undergraduate student research writing at the core of their mission.


Author(s):  
Virginia Crank ◽  
Sara Heaser ◽  
Darci L. Thoune

This article describes a revision of a first-year writing program curriculum using the pillars of the Reimagining the First-Year Program. The authors adapted principles related to mindset and habits of mind from both college retention scholarship and composition scholarship. After developing a research project in order to understand what elements of mindset correlate with readiness for credit-bearing writing courses, the authors created a multiple measures placement system for enrolling students in a credit-bearing first-year writing course with co-requisite support.  


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica H. Kwon ◽  
R. Scott Partridge ◽  
Shelley Staples

Abstract This paper describes the construction process involved in creating a robust local learner corpus of texts produced by international students in a first-year writing course at a large public, mid-western university in the U.S. We show how involving faculty members and graduate students of our local writing program in the process of learner corpus analysis provides them with opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge as writing instructors, course designers, and, ultimately, knowledge producers. An additional benefit of such an undertaking is that the corpus can become part of the infrastructure of a research community that allows continued contributions by others individually and collaboratively. We also illustrate the usefulness of our local learner corpus for research, teaching, mentoring, and collaboration within our writing program with examples of the research projects and teaching interventions we have developed.


Author(s):  
Melissa L. Johnson ◽  
Laura Pasquini ◽  
Michelle R. Rodems

This case study, an honors first year seminar from the University of Florida, USA, demonstrates the benefits and challenges of these developments in education. The case expands the definition of formal, informal, and online learning communities in the context of a first year seminar.


Author(s):  
B.M. Trigo ◽  
G.S. Olguin ◽  
P.H.L.S. Matai

This chapter deals with the use of Applets, which are examples of software applications, combined with a specific methodology of teaching, based on Paulo Freire’s education concepts. According to his methods, co-creation between its participants is fundamental for the effectiveness of learning process. In that way, to promote a cooperative learning, the Applet should have interactive features. The Chemistry course of Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, in which students take in the first semester of the first year of the engineering course, was the case study. First, a research with the teachers of the Chemical Engineering Department was carried out, to identify the main problems and difficulties teachers and students face. Then, a topic was selected to be explored with the Applet, which was developed and applied to a small group of students. To identify the success of this experiment a questionnaire was created and the results are presented in this chapter. Some conclusions were drawn and the interactive features of the Applet received a positive feedback.


2022 ◽  
pp. 47-78
Author(s):  
Michelle J. Kelley ◽  
Taylar Wenzel ◽  
Karri Williams ◽  
Marni Kay

This chapter describes how faculty from the University of Central Florida collaboratively worked to transform an undergraduate reading practicum course utilizing action research and case study methodology. Seeking to develop preservice educators as teacher researchers, the reading faculty responded by developing and implementing the Action Research Case Study Project. This semester-long project required faculty to redesign the course to reflect this emphasis. This chapter includes the modifications made to the course content, the creation of rubrics for evaluating the project, and feedback mechanisms employed to facilitate student success. The project has been implemented for two semesters; various data sources are shared to document the effectiveness of the project including faculty input, survey data, student work examples, and student reflections.


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