Strategies to Increase Connectedness in Online Mathematics Courses

1. Strategies to Increase Connectedness in Online Mathematics Courses Sonia Ford Midland College Midland, Texas AMATYC 2013 S001

2. Benefits and Challenges to Online Learning/Teaching • Community of Inquiry Model • Strategies to Increase Connectedness • Survey Results • Suggestions Goals

3. Opportunity • Flexibility • Innovations in Teaching Benefits of Online Courses

4. Assessment of Student Learning • Time Commitment • Student Feelings of Isolation Challenges of Online Courses

5. High Attrition • Low Student Satisfaction • Lower Perceived Student Learning Isolation

6. Community of Inquiry Model Garrison, Anderson, Archer (2000)

7. “the extent to which the participants in any particular configuration of a community of inquiry are able to construct meaning through sustained communication” (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, p. 89) Cognitive Presence

8. Practical Inquiry Model (Dewey, 1933) • Triggering event • Exploration • Integration • Resolution Cognitive Presence

9. “the ability of participants in the Community of Inquiry to project their personal characteristics into the community, thereby presenting themselves to other participants as ‘real people’.” (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, p. 89) Social Presence

10. Emotional Expression • Open Communication • Group Cohesion (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) Social Presence

11. “includes the selection, organization, and primary presentation of course content, as well as the design and development of learning activities and assessment” (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, p. 90) Teacher Presence

12. Instructional Management • Building Understanding • Direct Instruction (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) Teacher Presence

13. Community of Inquiry Model Garrison, Anderson, Archer (2000)

14. Introduction Activities • Introduction • Scavenger Hunt • Video Conference/Chat Strategies to Increase Connectedness

15. Discussion Boards • Participation • Topics Introduction Study Skills Reflections Math Help Website and Video Links Math and My Subject • Assessment Strategies to Increase Connectedness

16. Checking In Reports • Participation • Topics • Assessment Strategies to Increase Connectedness

17. Online Videos • Instructor Introduction • Instructor Mathematics Videos • YouTube, Khan Academy, Patrick JMT, etc. Strategies to Increase Connectedness

18. Help Requests • E-mail • Module Questions • Virtual Café Strategies to Increase Connectedness

19. Online Student Connectedness Survey (Bolliger & Inan, 2012) • Factors of Connectedness • Comfort • Community and Social Presence • Instructor Facilitation • Interaction and Collaboration Survey Results

20. Administered during Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 • Courses • Introductory Algebra • Intermediate Algebra* • College Algebra* • Statistics • Business Math I & II • Precalculus* *courses I currently teach Survey Results

21. N = 131 Survey Results

22. N = 131 Survey Results *p <.05, **p < .01

23. Your suggestions? Strategies to Increase Connectedness

24. Bolliger, D. U., & Inan, F. A. (2012). Development and validation of the online student connectedness survey (OSCS). The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 13(3), 41-65. • Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Boston, MA: Health. • Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. • Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom (2nd ed.) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. References

25. Sonia Ford Professor of Mathematics Midland College sford@midland.edu Thank you!