Practice Makes Progress.
Challenge
Passive participation in learning does not offer room for autonomous learning, and after a certain period students are likely to lose interest. As a result, learning retention is decreased.
Objective
Use instructional strategies and content analysis to identify opportunities for student engagement with content through interactive learning objects such as flashcards, interactive drag-and-drop diagrams, and other self-check exercises.
Solution
Auburn Online developed interactive tools within the online courses to support learning. Different kind of activities like spreadsheets, flashcards, interactive diagrams and other self-check exercises allow students to gain practice opportunities for engaged autonomous learning.
Details
In order to incorporate principles of active learning, Auburn Online has been developing novel tools where students can interact with the course material to learn and develop. This type of instructional format enhances their learning experience and encourages engagement.
The interactive tools are designed according to the most appropriate instructional needs of the course. For example, in BIOL 1010 (Survey of Life), students are expected to remember the names of the bones in the human skeleton. Students are shown a picture of the skeleton, and they can practice naming the bones by dragging and dropping the names to the appropriate locations. This type of pictorial learning will help students remember the names by visualizing the picture, thus, increasing their retention. Similarly, in the same course, students are expected to remember the genotype, and they are given a worksheet to practice different combinations.
Other type of interactive activities being used are Hotspot, Fill-in-the-blanks, by working different scenarios. Such tools are being used in BUSI 2010; Professional Communication. Flip Gallery with Audio is another interactive activity that is used in this course, where flip-cards are used which is complemented with audio to enrich the learning experience. Auburn Online also uses custom built interactive diagrams to make learning easier for the students.
These interactive tools can be used for online and in-class sessions. These tools are meant to make learning more meaningful and therefore, are not limited to online programs only.
Partners for Success
This project description mentions BIOL 1010 and BUSI 2010. Auburn Online partnered with Dr. Kat Mincey and Ms. Jan Moppert, respectively, for these two courses.)