Proposal Title
Facilitating a “Last Class Workshop” – A tool for course evaluation and evolution
Session Type
Presentation
Room
Somerville House, room 3317
Start Date
13-7-2023 11:30 AM
End Date
13-7-2023 11:50 AM
Keywords
student feedback, course evaluation, metacognition, students as partners, participatory co-design
Primary Threads
Teaching and Learning Science
Abstract
Recognizing that the last session of class at the end of term is often not very materially productive, we searched for a way to make this last class meaningful and functional. In this presentation, we describe our implementation of and research surrounding a workshop oriented towards obtaining real-time course evaluations, and driving course evolution (Bleicher, 2011).
During this session we will describe models of the “Last Class Workshop” for in-person learning as well as both synchronous and asynchronous online learning environments, alongside data speaking to its success in these environments (Styles & Polvi 2022). We will describe the preparative work required of students and instructors. The success of the “Last Class Workshop” depends on the openness of the facilitator to accepting feedback of all types, and on the active engagement and deliberate self-reflection of students (Bovill et al., 2011, Pintrich, 2004), and much of the preparation before the session is oriented towards appropriately framing it for success in these areas. We’ll invite the audience to participate in a mock mini-workshop to illustrate the dynamics and utility of this tool.
Fundamentally, the “Last Class Workshop” is built on the idea that the students themselves are the best source of constructive critique, innovative adaptations, and meaningful updates in a course. It is not difficult to implement, has a noticeable impact on participants, and can provide transformative feedback.
This research was approved by the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board Protocol #42582 and #40718.
Elements of Engagement
In keeping with the conference's theme of "belonging", this presentation will shake things up through a dynamic session delivered by our author team that asks for the participation and inclusion of the entire audience. Our presentation will use short video demonstrations (five - ten seconds each), engaging software highlights, and a short slide show. We ask participants to come to the session having thought about one of their more recently taught classes. What do you think worked well in this class? What do you think did not work very well? We’ll use these reflections for a mock “Last Class Workshop”; participants will contribute reflections to an online whiteboard and facilitate a short discussion to showcase the use and utility of online whiteboard platforms as a teaching and learning tool and as a mechanism for collecting feedback. Please bring your own device (smartphone, laptop, tablet) so you can test-drive the “Last Class Workshop” with us!
Facilitating a “Last Class Workshop” – A tool for course evaluation and evolution
Somerville House, room 3317
Recognizing that the last session of class at the end of term is often not very materially productive, we searched for a way to make this last class meaningful and functional. In this presentation, we describe our implementation of and research surrounding a workshop oriented towards obtaining real-time course evaluations, and driving course evolution (Bleicher, 2011).
During this session we will describe models of the “Last Class Workshop” for in-person learning as well as both synchronous and asynchronous online learning environments, alongside data speaking to its success in these environments (Styles & Polvi 2022). We will describe the preparative work required of students and instructors. The success of the “Last Class Workshop” depends on the openness of the facilitator to accepting feedback of all types, and on the active engagement and deliberate self-reflection of students (Bovill et al., 2011, Pintrich, 2004), and much of the preparation before the session is oriented towards appropriately framing it for success in these areas. We’ll invite the audience to participate in a mock mini-workshop to illustrate the dynamics and utility of this tool.
Fundamentally, the “Last Class Workshop” is built on the idea that the students themselves are the best source of constructive critique, innovative adaptations, and meaningful updates in a course. It is not difficult to implement, has a noticeable impact on participants, and can provide transformative feedback.
This research was approved by the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board Protocol #42582 and #40718.