The Supplemental Model

• Retains the basic structure of the traditional course, particularly the number of class meetings.
  
• May simply supplement lectures and textbooks with technology-based, out-of-class activities to encourage greater student engagement with course content and to ensure that students are prepared when they come to class.
  
• May add technology-based, out-of-class activities and also change what goes on in the class by creating an active learning environment within a large lecture hall setting.

Examples that Add Out-of-Class Activities and Do Not Change In-Class Activities

• Students use a two-disc CD-ROM--which contains interactive activities, simulations, and movies--to review and augment text material. Students receive credit for completing four online mastery quizzes each week and are encouraged to take the quizzes as many times as needed until they attain a perfect score. Only the highest scores count.

University of New Mexico: General Psychology

• An automated, intelligent tutoring system monitors students' work during lab exercises, providing feedback when students pursue an unproductive path, and closely tracking and assessing a student's acquisition of skills—in effect, providing an individual tutor for each student.

Carnegie Mellon University: Introductory Statistics

Examples that Add Out-of-Class Activities and Change In-Class Activities

• Students review learning objectives, key concepts and supplemental material posted on the class Web site prior to class and complete online quizzes, which provide immediate feedback to students and data for instructors to assess student knowledge levels. During class, the instructors use a commercially available, interactive technology that compiles and displays students' responses to problem-solving activities. Class time is divided into ten- to fifteen-minute lecture segments followed by sessions in which students work in small groups applying concepts to solve problems posed by the instructors. Instructors reduce class time spent on topics the students clearly understand, increase time on problem areas, and target individual students for remedial help.

University of Massachusetts-Amherst: Introductory Biology

• A 200-student class meets twice a week in an auditorium. The first meeting focuses on an instructor overview of the week's activities. About a dozen discussion questions are posted on the Web. Students meet for one hour in small learning teams of 10-15 students (supervised by undergraduate learning assistants) to prepare answers collaboratively and to carry out inquiry-based team projects. Teams post written answers to all questions. At the second class meeting, the instructor leads a discussion session, directing questions to the learning teams. The instructor has reviewed all posted answers prior to class and devotes class time to questions with dissonant answers among teams.

University of Colorado-Boulder: Introductory Astronomy

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