The Evaluation of an Integrated Growth & Goals Module to Better Equip Students with Learning Skills in Postsecondary Courses: Systematic, Scalable, and Explicit

<p><a></a><a>In this dynamic and rapidly changing world, students need to be able to continually learn and adapt throughout their lives. However, most students spend years in formal education settings without being explicitly taught how to learn effectively. </a>To reach our goal of explicitly and effectively equipping all students with learning skills, we developed and evaluated a Growth & Goals module. The module is an Open Education Resource for postsecondary students that educators integrate in their courses to teach core learning skills of metacognition, goal-setting, growth mindset, and mindfulness. Over 5000 students at ten institutions have now used the module. In the present study, we evaluated the module using a Practical Participatory Evaluation approach and the 4-level Kirkpatrick Evaluation model. To answer ten questions aligned with the Kirkpatrick model, we collected data from 1845 students and 5 educators from nine undergraduate courses in science, engineering, and mathematics, which were used to investigate ten research questions aligned with Kirkpatrick’s four evaluation levels. For Level 1 (Reaction), students and educators reported high satisfaction and gave constructive suggestions that centred on expanding the module. The training was new to 88% of students. Most completion rates were over 75% when professors provided an incentive (³ 1%). Students in some demographics used the module less than others: lower-achieving, first-generation university students, from outside the Ottawa-Gatineau area, male, and in certain programs. In Level 2 (Learning), students’ metacognitive skills increased throughout the semester. They could identify SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Reachable, and Time-specific) and differentiate growth/fixed mindset statements. At Level 3 (Behaviour), students applied the module within the originating course, indicated their intent to use the module in the future, and a survey of a subsample indicated that most students used or intended to use the module in a new course. Most educators created course-level learning outcomes for the first time to integrate with the module. As an Open Education Resource with a nearly complete “plug-and-play” format, using the module required little time and low technological skills of students and educators; however, greater support, incentives, and rewards could be provided. Research and development require sustained resources. Finally, in Level 4 (Results), educators have used the module in courses in a number of disciplines, including sciences, engineering, mathematics, education, and psychology. The module addresses institutional goals of transformational learning and agility, as well as two provincial degree level expectations that are rarely explicitly taught in courses. In summary, the Growth & Goals module explicitly teaches core learning skills in a way that is systematic, scalable, and explicit for science, engineering, and mathematics courses, with a potential to expand to any discipline.</p>

The Evaluation of an Integrated Growth & Goals Module to Better Equip Students with Learning Skills in Postsecondary Courses: Systematic, Scalable, and Explicit

<p><a></a><a>In this dynamic and rapidly changing world, students need to be able to continually learn and adapt throughout their lives. However, most students spend years in formal education settings without being explicitly taught how to learn effectively. </a>To reach our goal of explicitly and effectively equipping all students with learning skills, we developed and evaluated a Growth & Goals module. The module is an Open Education Resource for postsecondary students that educators integrate in their courses to teach core learning skills of metacognition, goal-setting, growth mindset, and mindfulness. Over 5000 students at ten institutions have now used the module. In the present study, we evaluated the module using a Practical Participatory Evaluation approach and the 4-level Kirkpatrick Evaluation model. To answer ten questions aligned with the Kirkpatrick model, we collected data from 1845 students and 5 educators from nine undergraduate courses in science, engineering, and mathematics, which were used to investigate ten research questions aligned with Kirkpatrick’s four evaluation levels. For Level 1 (Reaction), students and educators reported high satisfaction and gave constructive suggestions that centred on expanding the module. The training was new to 88% of students. Most completion rates were over 75% when professors provided an incentive (³ 1%). Students in some demographics used the module less than others: lower-achieving, first-generation university students, from outside the Ottawa-Gatineau area, male, and in certain programs. In Level 2 (Learning), students’ metacognitive skills increased throughout the semester. They could identify SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Reachable, and Time-specific) and differentiate growth/fixed mindset statements. At Level 3 (Behaviour), students applied the module within the originating course, indicated their intent to use the module in the future, and a survey of a subsample indicated that most students used or intended to use the module in a new course. Most educators created course-level learning outcomes for the first time to integrate with the module. As an Open Education Resource with a nearly complete “plug-and-play” format, using the module required little time and low technological skills of students and educators; however, greater support, incentives, and rewards could be provided. Research and development require sustained resources. Finally, in Level 4 (Results), educators have used the module in courses in a number of disciplines, including sciences, engineering, mathematics, education, and psychology. The module addresses institutional goals of transformational learning and agility, as well as two provincial degree level expectations that are rarely explicitly taught in courses. In summary, the Growth & Goals module explicitly teaches core learning skills in a way that is systematic, scalable, and explicit for science, engineering, and mathematics courses, with a potential to expand to any discipline.</p>

What are students’ learning and experiences in an online learning tool designed for cognitive and metacognitive skill development?

Organic chemistry has its own representational language and as with any language, any barrier with the language makes understanding the message difficult. In this article, we describe the design of an open education resource that empowers students to master this language, the Organic Mechanisms module in orgchem101.com. We also describe the structure and findings of a pilot study designed to measure students’ learning and experiences using the module, with a focus on principles, structure, and key findings, rather than on the chemistry-specific elements.

Paradigm Shift in Teacher Training With the Intervention of Open and Distance Learning Programmes

In the present chapter an attempt has been made to discuss the teacher's education and training offered through Distance mode of learning and the response of the teachers to these programmes. Efforts of various committees and commissions to strengthen teacher education are also presented. IGNOU offers variety of programmes through ODL pertaining to teacher education, at different level which are offered based on the principle of networking, resource sharing and convergence. Attempt has also been made to analyse learners interest in different programmes offered through ODL by IGNOU during last three academic years and it has been noticed that there was overwhelming response of the learners for majority of the programmes. The chapter also suggests indicative interventions which need to be addressed carefully in the changing scenario particularly with the shift towards Open Education Resource (OER) and Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) with unlimited participation and open access through web which provide interactive user forums to support community interactions among stake holders.