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University of Colorado at Boulder Course Title: Introductory Astronomy Status: This project originated as part of NCAT’s Pew-funded Program in Course Redesign (PCR) program, 1999 – 2003, and was successfully completed. Descriptive Materials: In addition to the project description below, links for this project include a full academic plan, a full cost savings plan, a completed Course Planning Tool (CPT) an interim progress report, and a final project report. The final project report describes the impact of the redesign on student learning and student retention; final cost savings achieved; techniques that most contributed to improved learning and reduced costs; and, as assessment of future sustainability. Project Plan: Colorado faces the traditional trade-off between cost and quality. The traditional lecture format is ineffective in engaging students. Only a small fraction of students use the office hours. Most students simply study the text, turn in their homework, and take quizzes and exams. Attendance at large lecture sections averages approximately 50%. In contrast, attendance in moderate-sized sections is better than 75%, and median performance on standard tests is higher. The experience with small sections is best of all, but, due to resource constraints, only about 15% of the students have the opportunity to enroll in sections of 80 or less. The intention of the course redesign is to reproduce the positive aspects of a small class environment in the large lecture sections through the use of technology and learning teams. The course will be redesigned so that all students, no matter what their section size, will work in small "learning teams." Learning will be structured around web-based course materials that allow for peer interaction and asynchronous learning. Lectures will be reduced from three to one per week and changed to question-and-dialogue format. Each learning team will be coached by an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant and will meet with its coach in a dedicated computer classroom for two hours per week. They will explore the hypertext "text" of the course, discuss posted questions, help each other with homework problems, and prepare "challenge questions" for the other teams. GTAs will be available in an e-mail chat room to answer questions on evenings and weekends. The redesigned course will enhance quality by making many avenues of learning available to students. Students will be able to learn individually by using the hypertext materials and doing the exercises, collaboratively in small peer groups (learning teams) with a coach, through direct e-mail communications with the GTA, and from other learning teams and the course faculty in the lecture. Web-based tools enable prompt asynchronous communication, addressing student needs as they occur. The redesign creates a structure that engages students in inquiry-based learning through a high level of interactivity with peers and teachers; it thus reproduces the small class experience. The impact of the course redesign on student learning will be assessed by comparing exam results, classroom attendance, and retention for traditional and redesigned sections. Students and teaching assistants will be asked assess their attitudes and perceptions of learning via focus groups. Student decisions to continue in the sciences will also be tracked. The University will apply this redesign to the two different enrollment utilized in Introductory Astronomy. The cost per student in the large sections (~220) goes from $146 to $125, a 14% savings (reflecting the fact that the large lecture model is relatively inexpensive.) The cost per student in the moderate sections (~80) goes from $304 to $199, a 35% savings. Taking the two configurations as a whole, the cost per student for the semester goes from $171 to $137, a 20% savings.
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Program in Course Redesign Quick Links: Program In Course Redesign Main Page... Lessons Learned: Savings: |
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