Experimental Classroom Report 2003-6

From CTLpedia

CTL Experimental Classroom Report, Academic Year 2005/2006 - This report is a synopsis of activities conducted in the CTL Experimental Classrooms (AS192 and AS196) up to and including academic year 2005/6)

Contents 1 Purpose 2 Current Design 3 Usage History (updated to include 2005/2006 usage) 4 Usage Trends and Other Observations (2004/2005) 5 Recommended modifications for 2005/2006 6 Usage Trends and Other Observations (2005/2006) 7 Laptop Usage Results – Feedback by Janice Jennings from DFACS department 8 Modifications made for 2006/2007

Purpose

The MCC Center for Teaching and Learning provides access to two experimental classrooms for the purpose of piloting new approaches to teaching and learning and/or new curricula designs. Faculty can then make stronger recommendations for facilities and equipment choices, based upon evaluation data, for inclusion in their department plans.

Current Design

Use of the experimental classrooms is organized into two levels, or tiers, as follows:

Tier 1

• New applicant or previous applicant with a new project (full-time faculty only)
• Application required with approval by CTL Advisory Committee
• Additional room hardware/software needs can be requested and will be fulfilled based on available funds
• Requires evaluation plan
• Proposal process begins during March of each year
• Term of use is 2 years with 3^rd year possible depending on available space. Summer use is optional.
• Letter of support from department chair must accompany initial proposal but continued support for the project is not a required element of the department plan

Tier 2

• New or repeat applicant (adjunct or full-time)
• Time commitment not to exceed one semester (adjunct must have department letter of support for one-semester commitment)
• Room request two weeks in advance
• Approved by CTL designee
• Scheduling on a first come, first-served basis
• Must use existing hardware/software
• Requires completion of evaluation

Laptop [new for 2005/2006 – will be pilot tested by Janice Jennings and Design, Family, Consumer Science Department]

• Application by department
• Application required with approval by CTL Advisory Committee – use by multiple instructors is critical
• Additional hardware/software needs can be requested and will be fulfilled based on available funds
• Requires evaluation and support plan
• Proposal process begins during March of each year
• Term of use is one semester to one year.
• Letter of support from department chair must accompany initial proposal but continued support for the project is not a required element of the department plan

Note that for each tier, demonstration of need for experimental space must be indicated. The CTL reserves the right to deny access to the classrooms based on the indicated planned usage of the space.

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Usage History (updated to include 2005/2006 usage)

Fall 2003/Spring 2004
AS192 (Computer room)
Tier	Name	Course
NA	Shelley Rodrigo	ENG102 and 111 (English)
	Maria Chavira	PSY230 (psychology)
	Paul Hietter	HIS105 (history)

Fall 2004/Spring 2005
AS192 (Computer room)
Tier	Name	Course
1	Derek Borman	PSY230/231 (psychology)
1	Paul Hietter	HIS104 (history)
2	Maria Chavira	PSY290 (psychology)
3	Bertha Sepulveda	NCE228 orientation
3	Lori Zienkewicz	FON orientation
3	Amadou Gaye	Calc III – experimental assessment
3	Greg Pratt	Econ 111 – online demo
3	Lorna Peralta	Info Literacy one day course
3	Mark Brenneman	MAT142 – Excel and statistics
3	Chuy Carreon	Mat/Science demonstration
AS196 (Einstein tables)
1	Allie Marino	SLG101/102 (sign language)
1	Chuck Hall	MGT229 (business)
3	Lori Zienkewicz	FON orientation

Fall 2005/Spring 2006 (switched to two tiers and laptops)
AS192 (Computer room)
Tier	Name	Course
1	Donna Gaudet	MAT092
1	Amadou Gaye	MAT241 (Calculus)
1	Maria Chavira	PSY290 Fall and PSY230 Spring
1	Paul Hietter	HIS104/105
1	Derek Borman	PSY231
1	Vaswati Ghosh	HIS103
1	Derek Borman – Summer 2005	PSY230/231
2	Terri Crews	NUR 163
2	Institutional Advancement	Meeting – Adobe Acrobat proofing
2	Janelle Elias - Community Ed	Web Page Creation Spring only
2	Myrna Eshelman	NCE228
2	Ruth DeLeon-Martinez	District Meeting
2	Julie Pharr	ENG101 orientation
2	Keri Sanders	MKT271
2	Carol Long	NUR115
2	Greg Pratt	Economics conference
2	Peggy Johnson	DLMG
2	Terri Crews and CTL	Nursing Faculty Orientation
2	Madeleine Chowdhury	New Faculty Experience
2	Shelley Rodrigo	Textbook event
2	Madeleine Chowdhury	Learning Grants Workshop
2	Marcia Graber	Course? Midterm exam
2	Sonia Filan	Institutional Advancement
2	Peggy Johnson	WebCT User’s Group
2	Financial Aid	Financial Aid Retreat
2	Laura Stock – CTL	Excel Fundamentals Workshop
2	Laura Stock – CTL	PowerPoint Fundamentals
2	Donna Gaudet – CTL	WebCT Migration Workshop
2	Julie Henderson	Training Class
2	Human Resources	Interviews
2	Melanie Kroening – CTL	WebCT Quizzes with Respondus
2	Luanne Patterson	RPS Training
2	Rhonda Macanless	ART
AS196 (Einstein tables)
1	Allie Marino – was replaced by Michelle Barto	SLG101/102 (sign language)
1	Derek Borman	PSY230
2	Brian Fairrington - Community Ed	Cartooning Class – 5 weeks
2	Larry Christiansen	NAU class
2	Steve Budge – Summer 2005	SPA101/102 (Spanish)
2	Aimee Guerrin	SPA orientation
2	Greg Pratt	Economics Conference
2	Linda Dickerman	EPS102
2	Jeremy Venema	TLTR meetings
2	Anne Ewing	Kaleidoscope meetings
2	Shelley Rodrigo	Textbook event
2	Pat Colbert	Student Outcomes Committee
2	Carolyn Faye	CTL Advisory Meeting
Laptop and Cart
1	Janice Jennings and Department	Design, Family, & Consumer Science

Fall 2006/Spring 2007 – Tier 1Applications Accepted
AS192 (Computer room)
Tier	Name	Course
1	Amadou Gaye	MAT241 (Calculus)
1	Paul Hietter	HIS104/105
1	Maria Chavira	PSY320
1	Brian Dille/Jonelle Moore Spring 2006	POS110/ENG102 block
AS196 (Einstein tables)
1	Michelle Barto	SLG101/102 (sign language)

Usage Trends and Other Observations (2004/2005)

1. Number of applications for Tier 1 decreased dramatically for the 2005/2006 year.

2. May be difficult for departments to sustain the innovation by providing equivalent space even after 2 years.

3. Tier 3 is beginning to catch on with requests starting to come in.

Recommended modifications for 2005/2006

1. Merge Tier 1 and Tier 2 into one tier (Tier 1) and extend the maximum time to three continuous years. Applicants would need to state up front the term they are applying for (1, 2, or 3 years) and include information about each year’s activities as part of their proposal.

2. Continue to require letter of support from department chair but remove the requirement that continued support for the project be included in the department plan.

3. Continue Tier 3 (occasional use) but call it Tier 2.

4. Officially allow the inclusion of adjunct faculty as applicants

5. Create an external experimental classroom using the laptops (see proposal below for more info).

Laptop Classroom Proposal:

Purpose:

The MCC Center for Teaching and Learning provides access to a portable laptop classroom for the purpose of piloting new approaches to teaching and learning and/or new curricula designs.

Proposed Design:

1. Inclusion in current application process as an option (i.e. AS192, AS196, laptop)

2. The same time stipulations would apply (one, two, or three years as indicated in plan)

3. Laptop cart and equipment would be released to a department not to an individual.

4. Department must demonstrate multiple uses and needs for the equipment.

Design Issues:

1. Tech support and maintenance of the equipment.

2. Lost or damaged equipment replacement.

3. Inventory notification

4. Software licenses, install, maintenance

Usage Trends and Other Observations (2005/2006)

1. Modifications to the need for data and evaluation were made to the Tier 1 and Tier 2 criteria (see below). An attempt was made to gather data from users this year without real success. Long term users for 2006/2007 will be asked to at least document their usage of the space. New users will be expected to provide evaluation data and progress reports. Forms should be developed or at least formats and date/submission expectations set in order to obtain the needed data and information.

2. Rooms received use for meeting and training space as an overflow for the workshop and conference rooms.

Laptop Usage Results – Feedback by Janice Jennings from DFACS department

1. Provide a brief overview of your department’s usage of the laptop cart over the past year. - The cart was used predominantly by 4 instructors give or take. We also used them extensively for our accreditation visit in March (usage outside of the classroom).  I used it Fall but not Spring due to physical classroom assignment.  My INT170 class was scheduled in AS191 for spring.  Had I been assigned TC310 I would have continued to use the cart.

2. What were the pros and cons you experienced as part of using the laptops? - Pro’s:  hands on learning with the instructor available in a situation that would otherwise prevent this from happening.  Con’s: time lost in distribution/collection and trouble shooting technical problems.  Con: we had one student insist she got a virus on her flash drive from using a laptop in class.

3. What lessons did you learn about cart and laptop usage that you would pass on to other departments? - I wish we would have set up bi-weekly doctors appointments for the laptops just to insure they were in working order.  We probably should have kept a trouble shoot log per laptop #.

4. Your department was tasked with primary technical support for the unit. Please describe the pros and cons of that responsibility. - Con – we have no one to give us any technical support and don’t have the knowledge base in house to address the issues - but we tried!

5. Will your department plan to acquire its own laptop cart in the future? Why or why not? - No.  The use of technology in the classroom has reached a point where they are needed most of the time and used when available.  We hope to have mobile furniture with the laptops secured to the mobile tables in the future per the prototype viewed at EMCC.  The nice thing about laptops is when not in use you can ask all students to close them thus knowing they are not using the computer for other things.

Modifications made for 2006/2007

Adjusted language for the Tier 1 and Tier 2 criteria as follows:

Tier 1- New applicant or previous applicant with a new project

• Open to full time faculty.

• Access needed for every class or periodic for full semester or more (fall, spring and or summer). [Note: Periodic use applicants may be matched with other periodic users to encourage efficient space use.]

• Access commitment for up to 2 years with 3rd year possible depending on progress, preliminary evaluation and available space.

• In consideration of scheduling issues for the next year, the proposal process begins at the start of fall classes each year and runs through the end of March. Project approval will be tentatively given based upon the merits of the proposal. However, final scheduling determinations will not be made until the end of March.

• Additional room hardware/software needs can be requested and will be fulfilled based on available funds

• Initial proposal must include a statement of support from department chair expressing a willingness to integrate the new approach into the department contingent upon positive evaluation results.

• Documentation of approach, evaluation procedure and results, and conclusions and recommendations required.

• Progress reports are required each semester.

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to disseminate the evaluation results via presentation or publication.

Tier 2 - New or repeat applicant with Occasional Space Needs

• Open to full time and adjunct faculty.

• Access requirement occasional or intermittent not to exceed one semester.

• Intermittent use scheduled as early as possible, but no less than one month before semester starts.

• Occasional use scheduled subject to availability at least two weeks in advance.

o Scheduling on a first come, first-served basis.

o Approved by CTL director or designee.

• Must use existing hardware/software.

• Documentation of use required.

• Evaluation encouraged.

Laptops – Cart will be removed from the Tier rotation and used to supplement workshop room computers. Additional modifications include how we will prioritize use of the space:

• First priority is scheduling the Tier 1 applicants. No workshop, training, or Tier 2 use should be scheduled prior to all Tier 1 for a given year.
• Tier 2 is the second priority for scheduling
• Meetings and trainings are the third priority

Individuals who are participating in the Faculty Professional Learning Communities will be encouraged to apply for Tier 1 level space in the classrooms as they begin to plan and implement their FPLC classroom projects.