i3 workshop - Week 7

This week we addressed the application of copyright law in educational settings. I have refreshed my memory regarding the definition of "fair use" and begun thinking more actively about how this applies to my online class in terms of posting links versus embedding material directly in the course.

I explored three websites to look for material that can be used in courses with specific instructions regarding use and sharing of materials. The Creative Commons Education Page was incredible! I found the free multimedia content specific to psychology to contain video materials on almost every topic that I have been searching for. I found videos of classic studies, major theories, and old film clips with original footage of famous psychologists. This is a website I will definitely be revisiting and linking to my online course in the future. I am not sure that I completely understood the Open Textbook website. There was a complete introductory textbook for review online, and it stated that you could buy and adopt the book for your class. It wasn't clear to me why this is posted online, but you can still purchase the material. The text itself covered key issues and included interesting multimedia material, but seemed a little disjointed at times. The Community College Consortium site also included a number of psychology textbooks with varying instructions regarding fair use.

i3 workshop - Week 5

Week 5 Assignment 1

Amy Jakobsen

1. Students will be able to describe 3 key features of 5 major theoretical perspectives in psychology without the assistance of notes.

Instructional activity: After reading the chapter and listening to a podcast, students will read a case study and develop a description of depression using the key features of each of 5 major theories in psychology. Students will then post the case study description from the theory they have the most questions about on a class forum, and assigned group members will provide comments to ensure group members understand each theoretical perspective.

Assessment: (essay question) Describe 5 major theoretical perspectives in psychology (e.g., Behaviorism) including the name, key features, and people associated with each theory.

2. Students will be able to describe the location and one major function for each of the four lobes of the brain hemispheres without notes.

Instructional activity: After reading the chapter and listening to a podcast, students will be linked with an interactive learning object online with a picture of the brain, which highlights and describes brain functions as your cursor runs over the lobes of the brain. Students will then write a story about how each lobe in their brain would function as they go to their favorite restaurant to eat.

Assessment: Students will fill in the names of the four lobes that exist on each side of the brain on a picture provided, then match each lobe with its function from a list.

3. Students will experience enthusiasm about at least one course topic this semester as evidenced by engaged and insightful presentation on the topic in the end of semester project.

Instructional activity: After learning about basic psychology topics from the text and podcasts, students will pick the topic that is most interesting to them and find a working professional that works in an area related to the topic to interview/correspond with/observe. This may include emailing researchers, observing practitioners, etc. The greater the level of interaction, the better!

Assessment: Prepare and perform a 10 minute presentation for the class detailing your findings and experiences.

This week I reviewed information about instructional activities and rubrics. I feel that these two topics applied equally to my online instruction and online classes. I selected a variety of instructional strategies including lecture, reading assignments, case study, peer instruction, and use of learning objects.


My students struggle with remembering key features of major theories in psychology. I chose the multiple methods of instruction including reading assignment, podcast, case study, and small group work because
 I feel that if students are able to get some repetition of the information in multiple formats, then learn how to apply the information to a specific case, they may have a better shot at fully comprehending and retaining the information.  I chose a case study on depression because depression is a comment element in the human experiences that most people are able to relate to. I included the peer instruction component as a way for students to clear up any final questions they may have by way of discussion with their peers, who likely have more insight into the missing pieces of a person newly learning the information. I chose an essay question for assessment, because it would give me an accurate picture of the information retained and reflect the mental processes used in actual psychology practice as one is generating a case formulation.

I chose readings, podcast, and a learning object for instructing students about the lobes of the brain because visual aids are a very important component for learning about the structure in the brain. I chose an applied assignment to help students connect the abstract descriptions of functions to the actual function of our brains in daily life. I chose traditional testing methods in order to cover all of the appropriate information that students need to know, and mirror the format of testing used in psychology and medical professions which students may be pursuing certification/licensure for in the future. 

I chose the instructional method of interacting with a professional to help engage students of the affective/motivational level with material learned in an introductory psychology class because I feel that the biggest challenge in teaching an introductory course is to help students see how the information can be and IS applied in professional settings and daily life activities. I feel a good assessment of the success of this learning endeavor is to have students present about their experiences, because the verbal and nonverbal content of the presentation would reflect whether they made the affective connection with the material.

i3 workshop - Week 4

I have added Powerpoint slides and podcasts as resources to my online psychology course in Moodle. I added a glossary activity to promote active information processing and work toward developing interactive activities in my course.

The podcasts related to the lack of learning that results from passive listening during lecture were not surprising to me. I am confronting the issue of students' lack of connection with the material, particularly in my introductory courses. I would like to incorporate more active learning strategies in my online and face to face classrooms. I am concerned about how I will cover the amount of material that is generally expected in survey courses at this point without running out of time for students to fully process the information. If the majority of students are not understanding and retaining information from traditional college instruction methods, I guess it doesn't matter how much information is covered anyway! The only thing is, we are still expected to have broad objectives consistent with those required by accrediting and transfer entities regardless of whether we are using traditional methods or not. The SVCC checklist seems to assemble some nice benchmarks to achieve, and I feel that it will require some time before I am able to integrate and apply that information to my course.

First Blog Ever

Oh boy, I am having dreams about the Julia/Julia lady who found fame and fortune through her blog.

Anyway, back to the point here. I set up this blog for my i3 "teaching online" workshop to talk about what I am learning. This week I learned about the pros and cons of online teaching/learning, philosophies about what constitutes knowledge nowadays, incorporating activities into my online classes, what Web 2.0 refers to, how to find and use a Web 2.0 tool (other than Facebook and Linkedin), how to incorporate various learning styles into my teaching, and ways to facilitate critical thinking during through online discussion. I also looked up an article that detailed concrete strategies for teaching online. Whew, I am sweating and a little out of breath from all that learning.

Regarding the shift in epistemology from an expert-based to a community-based perspective, I embrace this change because I believe that many conceptions and interpretations of reality can be valid and useful. Also, that the utility of knowledge depends on accessibility and that the concepts are robust when subjected to critique and analysis. I am pretty sure that many of my students are more savvy with the Web 2.0 technologies than I am because I get messages and assignments from all kinds of sources.

I was most excited to try to implement the engaging characteristics of an "authentic activity", but this will probably start in my on campus classrooms first, then hopefully transfer to my online class shortly. I was very excited by the idea of the "inverted classroom", a concept in my journal article, because I would love maximize the time I have with my students in class to recreate psychology experiments and help students personalize and apply the material during class time.

I have already incorporated a few more interactive activities in my current online psychology course, and I am trying to establish more of a presence through announcements. I will be recording and posting audio lectures next week, and I even got the equipment to work at home -yay! I created an email list for my online students to communicate with one another, and I will probably create a discussion board soon. In terms of learning styles, I would like to exploit as many techniques possible to create a stimulating sensory and intellectual experience for my students, but it was nice to hear that matching the method to the content works effectively, because student preferences are infinite. I think that if I capitalize on a variety of learning styles, it will keep students more engaged, which will maximize their processing of the course material. I haven't fully formulated my ideas about using Web 2.0 in my course yet, but I certainly use this technology to search for thought and discussion-provoking content. I will probably try to use the tools to create a collaborative writing project for my students in the near future.

Most of all, I am excited to start learning specific skills for teaching students to engage with psychology concepts rather than just describing all the fun stuff to them. The end.