Notes for "Learning to Reflect".
| Course: | COMP3500/3550/3710/4500/8715 - Learning to Reflect - Sem 2 2019 |
| Book: | Notes: Learning to Reflect |
| Printed by: | Tom Worthington |
| Date: | Thursday, 7 November 2019, 11:32 AM |
This is version 2.1 of a design for a learning module. See latest version. For more information, see "Learning Module for Teaching Students to a Write Job Application". This material is by Tom Worthington, under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, with quoted sources. Students of the ANU TechLauncher program (which includes the courses COMP3500, COMP3550, COMP3710, COMP4500, and COMP8715), should refer to the version provided by the university. A Moodle backup file including all course materials, and quiz questions, is available to instructors on request, from the author. Notes from a presentation about the design of this module, are also available:
Blend and Flip for Teaching Communication Skills to Final Year International Computer Science Students, Tom Worthington, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment, and Learning for Engineering (TALE). In Press. Preprint and Presentation notes available.
These are the notes for the Work Portfolio Package (WPP) module of the ANU
TechLauncher program, which includes the courses COMP3500, COMP3550, COMP3710,
COMP4500, and COMP8715.
These
notes contain content intended for instructors, as well as students, to be used
in conjunction with online exercises, and face-to-face workshops. Students will
be prompted by the ANU Wattle Learning Management System, as to which parts to
read, and when to read them.
The WPP module is designed to help students to develop capabilities
expected of working professionals to identify their development needs, how they
will acquire these and to reflect on what they have learned. You should discuss
and plan your portfolio approach with your tutor, and with your peers. Where
appropriate, we also encourage you to discuss your portfolio with your
client.
The module focuses on the third evaluation theme of TechLauncher:
“Reflecting and showcasing your learning in the course”
And the last two learning outcomes:
4. “Communication. Effective transmission of decisions and solutions using appropriate media to professional and lay audiences.
5. Reflection. Demonstrate and reflect on leadership and creativity as an individual and within a multi-disciplinary team.”
From: TechLauncher Course Outline, ANU, 19 Jul 2019, URL: https://cs.anu.edu.au/TechLauncher/current_students/course_outline/#learning-outcomes
Two online quizzes, one percent per quiz. Contributions to two discussion
forums, two per forum. Two assignments, of four percent and ten percent. Peer
feedback from students in the forums, and the assignments, will be taken into
account in finalisation of grades by your examiners.
For each quiz students will answer three to five questions, with multiple
choice and short answers. The quizzes will be automatically marked by the system.
Questions will be randomly selected from a question bank, with ordering of
multiple choice answers randomized.
For each forum students will be asked to answer
one of a set of questions with a few sentences (the questions are listed in the notes at the end of each part). Students are then asked to reply to the post by another student. Students will then give ratings for the answer (0, 1, or 2). The Instructor will
review the ratings from students and recommend a mark to the examiner, who
will make the final decision, for each student.
The feedback for assignments is double-blind: students will not know who they
are providing feedback to, nor who they received feedback from. The instructor
will review the student feedback, making any changes needed. The examiner will
then allocate eighty percent of the grade for the student's work and twenty
percent for their feedback. The TurnItIn text matching tool will be used to help
check the work submitted is original. Students can run thier work through the
Turnitin
Practice Site, which also provides more detail of the service.
Mark: 2% quizzes + 4% forums + 14% assignments = 20% of course assessment.
Late submission of assessment is not accepted.
Four hours of student learning time, consisting of participation in online forums and assessment activities. A one hour face-to-face workshop is provided to assist with each assignment.
An eBook is supplied with the course. In addition, from ANU Academic
Skills:
Reflective writing,
reflective essays,
learning journals. From ANU Careers:,
cover letters,
addressing selection criteria,
resumes, and
ANU Careers Guide (2018). ANU also provides samples of
cover letters,
selection criteria, and resumes
for students.
The WPP activities break down into two parts, one topic per part, with one quiz, forum, and assignment, for each:
Learn. The student identifies skills they have, what they require, and how to acquire them. Assignment task is to address a typical set of selection criteria for a position.
Report and reflect. The student deepen skills in oral and written communication. Assignment task is to prepare an application for a real position, revising the responses to selection criteria from the previous assignment.
ANU Wattle is used. Students and instructor will use the Moodle Learning Management system tools in Wattle:
Dialogue for one-to-one communication.
Forum for group communication and discussion.
Quiz tool for quizzes.
Workshop for assignments.
In a group project you are undertaking one or more roles as a team member. This requires technical and professional skills. What skills will you need, which you do not already have? Where will you obtain these skills? How will you practice them, and how to your measure and communicate your degree of success in applying them?
Part of being a professional is assessing if you have the skills needed for a job, and going about gaining skills needed. This is commonly called Lifelong learning. Development relevant to maintaining and expanding skills in a specific job or discipline is Professional Development.
The European Commission (EC) defines Lifelong learning as:
"... all general education, vocational education and training, non-formal learning and informal learning undertaken throughout life, resulting in an improvement in knowledge, skills and competences or participation in society within a personal, civic, cultural, social and/or employment-related perspective, including the provision of counselling and guidance services."
From Annex III - Glossary of terms, p. 324, Erasmus+ Programme Guide, European Commission, 2019.
The Australian Computer Society (ACS), uses a narrower range of topics for its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program.
"CPD hours should be balanced and tailored to your career path, taking into consideration competencies to date and future interests. Some examples include:
As well as formal coursework, universities offer a range of co-curricular activities for students.
co-curricular [adjective, North American]:
Some co-curricular activities offered through ANU Student Experience are:
Undergraduate Research Journal: Publishes essays by ANU undergraduates. Students gain experience in the scholarly publication process of peer review and editing.
Universities offer programs for students to gain skills as entrepreneurs. ANU sponsors First Wednesday Connect, and InnovationACT.
Universities also offer free online courses. The ANU offers courses through the edX Consortium. Topics include technology management, and marketing.
ANU Careers suggests using the STAR approach for responding to selection criteria. Cockburn, Carver, Shirley, and Davies (p. 71, 2007), discuss an expanded STAR-L approach used at Queensland University of Technology (QUT): Situation, Task, Action, Result, and lessons Learnt.
From: Cockburn, Carver, Shirley, and Davies (p. 71, 2007)
In the first assignment you are required to prepare a statement addressing the selection criteria for a typical position (you will then refine this in the final assignment).
ANU Careers define selection criteria as "... the qualifications, skills, personal attributes and performance standards needed to perform the duties listed on the duty statement/position description." For computing positions the selection criteria are usually explicitly listed. The may be divided into categories, such as essential and desirable. Your response to selection criteria may duplicate information provided in the CV.
The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) examples of selection criteria:
An example of using STAR to the first of these criteria (communication):
As included in the WPP:"Situation – role as Research Support Officer at Department of XYZ
Task – needed to ensure that managers were kept informed of policies and procedures
Action or approach – initiated monthly newsletter, which was emailed to each manager. Took responsibility for writing the main articles. This involved obtaining ideas and input from other stakeholders to ensure that the articles reflected managers’ needs (in terms of content and language)
Result – led to improved lines of communication between managers and the Research Support Unit. Feedback was consistently excellent. Received divisional achievement award for newsletter quality."
From "Applying for an APS job: cracking the code", Australian Public Service Commission, 2018.
The APSC did not use the expanded STAR-L. Adding Learning to this might give, for example:
"Learning - While experienced in the preparation of newsletter content, needed to learn the use of the department's Wizard social media tool. This required not only learning technical aspects, but group online working."
"As Research Support Officer at the XYZ Bank, I needed to ensure that managers were kept informed of policies and procedures. To do this, I initiated a monthly newsletter, which was emailed to each manager. I took responsibility for writing the main articles in each publication. This involved obtaining ideas and input from other stakeholders to ensure that the articles reflected the needs of managers, both in terms of content and language. I received consistently excellent feedback in relation to the newsletter from these internal stakeholders and my own manager. I received a divisional achievement award for the quality of the newsletter. Importantly, this initiative resulted in improved lines of communication between managers and the Research Support Unit."
From "Applying for an APS job: cracking the code", Australian Public Service Commission, 2018.
ANU Careers categorize selection criteria into:
Behaviourally-based questions - example: "'Proven
teamwork/leadership skills".
As discussed previously, ANU Careers use the
STAR approach for responding to selection criteria. ANU Careers can provide
help with answering
selection criteriaand
examples of answers.
The expanded STAR-L, with "Learnt" added, is used here, as planning your own
learning is part of being a professional. In the second assignment you will be
required to document what you have learned from co-curricular
activities.
Complete online Quiz 1 now.
Describe an example from you own experience in terms of STAR-L: Situation, Task, Action, Result, and lessons Learnt.
In this second and last part, you will reflect on what you have learned. The assignment task is to select a real position to prepare an application cover letter for, and revise the responses to selection criteria prepared in assignment 1, and other parts.
The cover letter introduces the applicant (you), explains why you want
the position, and your most relevant qualifications, skills and experience.
The cover letter should be prepared last, but placed first. The
cover letter provides a summary of claims to the position.
The cover letter should be followed by your statement addressing the selection criteria. If there are few criteria, this may be incorporated in the cover letter. This is followed by the curriculum vitae (CV), also called a resume. The CV is an overview of a person's experience and qualifications (see "Resumes", from ANU Careers, for more details).
Supplementary material can be placed at the end of the application as evidence of work described in the application. This could be diagrams, samples of code, schematics of a prototype, user testing procedures, or other work. It is important that the work presented was created by you, not just a team you worked in.
Unlike the group work carried out for your project, the an application cover letter, responses to selection criteria and a CV are individual. This work needs to be reflective, it is about how you can fit the role being applied for, and how you have faced challenges and learned from them. Baruah, Ward and Jackson (2017), found that a final assessment in the form of an individual reflective essay was useful for students having undertaken a teamwork project. However, students engaged in this WPP activity previously found reflective writing too abstract, so the task was changed to an application for a position, incorporating reflection.
Three reflective questions for any position are:
In preparing your cover letter you may choose to highlight something you
have learned during your studies. This may not be something planned, or part of
the formal curriculum.
Cajander, Daniels, Peters and McDermott (2014) describe four Levels
of Reflection:
In your WPP you are expected to exhibit Critical
Reflection.
Tasks
Job Titles
Analyst Programmer (or Programmer Analyst)
Analyses user needs, produces requirements documentation and system plans, and encodes, tests, debugs, maintains and documents programs and applications.
Developer Programmer (Applications Developer, ICT Developer, or ICT Programmer)
Interprets specifications, technical designs and flow charts, builds, maintains and modifies the code for software applications, constructs technical specifications from a business functional model, and tests and writes technical documentation.
Specialisations: Communications Programmer (Systems), Database Developer, Database Programmer (Systems), Network Programmer, Software Developer, Software Programmer
Software Engineer, Architect, or Designer
Designs, develops, modifies, documents, tests, implements, installs and supports software applications and systems.
Specialisations: Computer Applications Engineer, Database Designer, Systems Architect
Software Tester
Specifies, develops and writes test plans and test scripts, produces test cases, carries out regression testing, and uses automated test software applications to test the behaviour, functionality and integrity of computer software, and documents the results of tests in defect reports and related documentation."
Reflective writing, ANU Careers, 2018
Cover letters, Structure, Style and practicalities, ANU Careers, 2018
Resumes, Types of resume, Resume structure, and Effective writing styles, ANU Careers, 2018
Please complete online Quiz 2 now.
Baruah, B., Ward, T., & Jackson, N. (2017, July). Is reflective writing an effective peer assessment tool for students in Higher Education?. In Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET), 2017 16th International Conference on (pp. 1-6). IEEE. URL https://doi.org/10.1109/ITHET.2017.8067802
Students answer three to five questions, with multiple choice and short
answers. The quizzes are automatically marked by the system. Questions are
randomly selected from a question bank, with ordering of multiple choice answers
randomized.
Students are be asked to answer one question from a set of two or three, with a few sentences and then reply to another student (the questions are listed in the notes at the end of each part). Students then give ratings for the answer (0, 1, or 2). The instructor will review the ratings from students and recommend a grade for each student to the examiner (who will make the final decision).
| Numerical Mark | Standard |
|---|---|
| 2 | Greater than expectation: Work of good quality, displaying an understanding of the subject matter and a grasp of relevant skills that is above average: all questions answered and at least one reply to another student's posting on each topic. |
| 1 | At expectation: Work of satisfactory quality, which displays an adequate understanding of most of the subject matter and a sufficient grasp of relevant skills: most questions were answered, and at least one reply to another student's posting on each topic. |
| 0 | Limited contribution: Work which is incomplete or displays an inadequate understanding of the subject matter or an inadequate grasp of relevant skills. Few or no postings to the forums, or postings with content which not acceptable. In particular material which is not correctly referenced, or cited. |
The student prepares a Work Portfolio Package (WPP) in two stages. The WPP is
an application for a position, built primarily around the student's recent
learning experience. For the first assignments details of a position to apply for
are be provided. For the second assignment the student must find a position to
apply for, and revise their work from the previous assignment to suit this.
Before each assignment there is a set of notes, readings, a quiz, a forum, and a
workshop to prepare the student. The Instructor will help with the assignment
submission process. The team at ANU
Careers, can assist with general advice on preparing a WPP. Ask your
tutor for advice and assistance with preparing the content of your
assignment.
Prepare a statement addressing the supplied selection criteria (typically 200-250 words per criterion). The submit one PDF file. Replace your name, contact details, and any other identifying information in the submission with asterisks. After submitting this you will be allocated the assignments of four other students to review. 80% of your mark will be for the assignment submitted, and 20% for the quality of the reviews.
Adapted from "Employer examples", ANU Careers, 2018. With project tools added from "TechLauncher Course Outline" ANU, 2018).
After submitting, each student will be allocated four assignments from other
students to provide feedback on. This is to help better understand how to write a
WPP. The student is to read each submission, rate the work using the rubric
provided, and write brief comments (no more than 100 words in total).
The reviews are double-blind peer reviewed: that is the student does not know who wrote the submissions they review, or who reviewed theirs. So students should not include their name, student number, or any other identifiers, in their assignment, or in their reviews of assignments. Where a name would normall occour, asterisks can be used.
Try to make positive comments, rather than just negative. Offer suggestions for improvement. Where there are numerous errors (such as in grammar), just point out the first, don't correct them all. This feedback will be taken into account by the examiner, along with the instructor's input, in determining a mark. Twenty percent of your mark will be for the quality of your feedback.
The student reflects on what they have learned. Assignment task is to prepare an application cover letter, and revise the other parts prepared previously. As with the first assignment, twenty percent of your mark will be for the quality of your feedback of other student's work.
Task: Select a real position to apply for. Prepare a cover letter (1-page), you can reuse content from your forum postings. Revise your CV, and the statement addressing the selection criteria prepared in the first assignment, for the position, 2-pages of Supplementary material (work product), and a copy of the advertisement you are responding to.
Both assignments use the same marking rubric, with a seven point scale. There are four criteria corresponding to parts of the WPP: CV, Selection Criteria, Covering Letter, and Supporting Evidence, plus six professional approach criteria, applicable to all.
| Overall Impression | Low | mid-point | High | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covering Letter: One page - look for contact details and qualifications; is it addressed and signed appropriately; have they said who they are and what they are applying for (job title, and where and when it was advertised); do they indicate they can do the job and will be a good fit for the company; are they showing passion for the job; are they proactive about getting to interview. | Weak | ☹ |
-1 | 0 | +1 | ☺ | Strong |
| CV: Two pages - look for their name and contact details; qualifications; professional memberships (eg. ACS, EA); skills and attributes; awards and certifications; relevant work experience; other work experience (including volunteering); referees | Weak | ☹️ |
-1 | 0 | +1 | ☺️ | Strong |
| Selection Criteria: Look for the use of a model for addressing selection criteria. eg. Situation/Action/Outcome (SAO) or Situation/Task/Actions/Results (STAR). That is, what have they written to demonstrate their ability to meet the criterion. Look for effective use of transferrable skills to address criterion. | Ignored | ☹️ | -1 | 0 | +1 | ☺️ | Strong Coverage |
| Supporting Evidence: This is material that will not normally be included in a job application. However, it will help students prepare for questions that may come up during interview. We're not looking for code etc. here. Instead, we are looking for evidence of outcomes and results. | None | ☹️ |
-1 | 0 | +1 | ☺️ | Appropriate |
| Professional Approach | |||||||
| PA1 Evidence of decision-making: Selection criteria will usually
include something around analytical skills and problem solving (which
require effective decision making). Has the student addressed such criteria
with evidence. Have they demonstrated an ability to learn from failure.
Select N/A if there are no applicable selection criteria. |
No evidence | ☹️ |
-1 | 0 | +1 | ☺ | clear evidence |
| PA2 Maturity of reflection: Demonstrated learning from mistakes
or failure. Not blaming others. Describing what they learned not what they
did. Transferring lessons from one situation to another |
Not reflective | ☹️ | -1 | 0 | +1 | ☺️ | Transformational |
| PA3 Professional tone: Professional language, no emails like
"smartass@gmail.com", appropriate addressing (no, "Hi there ...") and
signature blocks (no 'Thanks, ...) on covering letter, respectful but
clear. |
Not acceptable | ☹️ | -1 | 0 | +1 | ☺️ | Professional |
| PA4 Evidence of life-long learning: It is unlikely that students will have the direct experience necessary to cover all selection criteria. So, look for demonstrated ability and interest in learning new things (perhaps based on transferable skills) - thus indicating a positive approach to life-long learning | No evidence | ☹️ | -1 | 0 | +1 | ☺️ | Clear evidence |
| PA5 Acting on feedback: Look for selection criteria related to
how people respond to others. Look for examples of how students have
responded to feedback. |
Not clear | ☹️ | -1 | 0 | +1 | ☺️ | Clear |
| PA6 Professional attitude: This may be covered in selection criteria but is more likely to be addressed in the covering letter. | Negative | ☹️ | -1 | 0 | +1 | ☺️ | Positive |
Rubric based on "Work Portfolio Package: Marking criteria, ANU Techlauncher, 2019.
One PDF file is to be submitted for each assignment. The submission are to be anonymous, with the student's name, and any other identifiers replaced with asterisks. Students will be allocated four assignments to provide ratings and peer comments on.
A fifty minute workshop will be held for each of the two topics.
Please note this is not a lecture, it is a hands-on, face-to-face, on
campus activity. Read the notes, and readings for topic, complete the quiz, post
your answers to the forum, and start work on the assignment, before
attending.
Bring along your answers to the forum questions, and your draft for the next assignment. Students sit in groups of four to six. First discuss a topic as a group then select a representative to relate findings (or ask questions) of the whole room.
Be prepared to express your view of the quality of the work of your
fellow students. This is a less formal assessment than the numerical scale used
for the forums, or the marking rubric for the assignments. There are no
marks awarded for the workshops.
"What do you react or respond to as you read it?
How does it come over?"
From
Sadler, p. 60, 2013.
General announcements
while students set up the room.
Students can ask for clarification on administrative, content and assessment
questions. Groups first discuss the question and if they are not sure of
the answer it can be put to the whole room.
Discuss your answers to this week's forum questions.
Bring along your draft assignment, ask for feedback from your group. Be
prepared to put it up on the big screen for group feedback.
Any concluding remarks by students and instructors.
Note: WiFi and electronic display screens will usually be available. However, students should bring an off-line electronic or paper copy of their answers to the discussion forums, and draft assignment, as a backup.
Sadler, D. R. (2013) 'Opening
up feedback: Teaching learners to see'. In Merry, S., Price, M., Carless, D.,
& Taras, M. (Eds.) Reconceptualising Feedback in Higher Education: developing
dialogue with students. (Ch. 5, 54-63). London: Routledge. URL
http://www.innovativeconservatoire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Sadler-%E2%80%93-Opening-up-feedback-Teaching-learners-to-see-%E2%80%93-Publication-2013.pdf
Example addressing the selection criterion: " written communication skills":
"As Research Support Officer at the XYZ Bank, I needed to ensure that managers were kept informed of policies and procedures. To do this, I initiated a monthly newsletter, which was emailed to each manager. I took responsibility for writing the main articles in each publication. This involved obtaining ideas and input from other stakeholders to ensure that the articles reflected the needs of managers, both in terms of content and language. I received consistently excellent feedback in relation to the newsletter from these internal stakeholders and my own manager. I received a divisional achievement award for the quality of the newsletter. Importantly, this initiative resulted in improved lines of communication between managers and the Research Support Unit."
From "Applying for an APS job: cracking the code", Australian Public Service Commission, 2018. Australian Public Service Commission, 2018. URL https://www.apsc.gov.au/fact-sheet-5-addressing-selection-criteria
This module is designed for blended learning. It is made up of online components supported by an instructor, with supplementary face-to-face workshops. Conventional Distance Education design techniques are used (Worthington, 2012).
The Australian National University TechLauncher program has been well received
by students, professional bodies, and organizations the students work with.
However, some students have had difficulty completing the last assessment item
for the course: the Work Portfolio Package (WPP). This module has been developed
in response, to build the student's skills and confidence. It was first offered
for students in the 8715 Computing Project
course, first
semester 2019. It was then revised for delivery to all TechLauncher students in
Second semester, 2019.
The module
is divided into two parts, the first for the middle of the semester, and the
second toward the end. The final task is unchanged from previous years: to
create a WPP, but the student develops their skills in stages. This is a
scaffolded approach to education.
The Australian National University's Wattle Learning Management System is used to deliver most of the structured learning. This is supplemented by a series of face-to-face workshops.
The learning is broken into two parts, each with flipped classroom learning. The student will study material online individually, then complete an online quiz, and post to a discussion forum. The students then take part in the face-to-face workshop, after the online study. After each workshop, the student completes an assignment.
This learning module is intended to be provided as part of a course. An
Instructor oversees the delivery of this module, posting
information to the class, and individual students. Students also have a Tutor for the course, who the instructor may refer students to, when
they need extra help with the module materials. One or more facilitators run the face-to-face workshops.
Some of the tutors may also carry out instructor functions, assist with
facilitation of workshops, and mark a sample of the student work to verify the
peer assessment. In any case, the Instructor only recommends grades to the
examiner of the course, who makes the final decision, for each
student.
The Instructor issues all students with regular bulletins via the Learning Management System (Wattle), and seeds the online discussion forums with questions. The students are then left to undertake the work. The instructor may issue “nudges” occasionally to the groups, or individual students, where there appears to be a problem. Apart from this, the Instructor and tutors do not take part in the online discussion. This dark cockpit philosophy (Jambon, Girard, & At-Ameur, p.43, 2001), reduces the distraction of constant messages from staff, only intervening where needed, and placing the onus on students to come to grips with the topic, individually and collectively.
To help keep students on task, there is progressive assessment. To aid reflective learning, students provide peer feedback on forums and assignments. The instructor assists students with the administrative aspects of the module, such as how to submit an assignment. Students having difficulty with the material will be referred to their tutor.
Before the date for commencement of the course, the instructor should check for any updates or corrections needed to the e-book of course notes and the course web page.
The instructor should ensure their photo, name, and link to a biography are displayed on the top of the course web page.
The course notes contain hypertext links which need to be checked. The Internet Archive is a good place to look for online documents no longer available at their original location.
The course notes, assignments and activities are available to the students from the start of the course. The instructor needs to check the dates each activity and issue reminders before each activity.
The instructor should post a welcome message to the Announcements Forum, to introduce themselves, outline the module (particularly the assessment) and invite students to introduce themselves in the chat room.
Here is an example welcome message:
Welcome to Learning to Reflect
Welcome to Learning to Reflect, I am your instructor for this module, Tom Worthington. You can contact me via the Dialogue tool in Wattle.
You will find materials on the course web page. There is an e-book with a chapter for each of the topics, a description of the assignments, and activities.
For each topic, you need to read the notes. There is a short quiz for each topic, to help with your understanding of the material (this also counts towards your grade). Then answer two or three questions in an online forum (by replying to my posting of the question) and discuss them with your fellow students. Give each posting a rating. Feedback and a mark will be provided.
Do not attempt to start the assignments now. The readings and activities are designed to give you the background for the assignments.
Your first task, if you wish to do so (not for assessment), is to introduce yourself to your fellow students online in the chat-room.
Forums
You will see a separate forum posting with the first topic's questions (for assessment). You only need to write a couple of sentences in answer to each question.
Assessment
Proposed assessment is detailed in the assessment section of the e-book. All assessment is to be submitted on time, apart from special consideration for illness or other causes. Any comments on the assessment are welcome."
For the first topic, the Instructor will need to remind students that they need to answer questions in the forum. Students not used to online learning can tend to forget to do the work, this even applies to experienced adult learners.
Here is an example posting reminder message:
Answers to Topic 1 Questions Due WednesdayThis is a reminder that there are questions for you to answer by this Wednesday in the Topic 1 Discussion Forum.
You first need to read the notes for Topic 1 in the eBook. There is a Topic 1 Quiz to help with your understanding of the material (this does count toward the assessment). Then answer the questions in an online forum (by replying to my posting of the question) and discuss them with your fellow students. Rate the answers from your fellow students. Feedback and a mark will then be provided.
For each topic, the instructor needs to prime the discussion forum, provide group summary and feedback at the end, plus any individual feedback. The feedback needs to be accompanied by marks, so the students pay attention to it. Lastly, remind the students of what is in the next topic.
Start a thread of discussion for each question asked in the notes (listed at the end of each chapter in the e-book). Copy and paste the question from the e-book. There is no need to expand on it.
Students can then reply to this post with their answers.Approaches to tutoring online vary. This module has been designed to have extensive scaffolding provided to the students so that after asking the questions, it should not be necessary for the instructor to participate in the forum discussions. The Instructor should only intervene if there is no discussion (which is rarely a problem), or if a student posts inappropriate or incorrect information (which is usually corrected by other students).
If a student is not participating, or posting inappropriate material, it may
be better to contact that student directly, or refer the matter to their tutor,
rather than respond via the forum. Some students may need suggestions as to
what and how to post.
The general feedback to the class should be sufficient in most cases.
Students who are having difficulties may benefit from a few lines of individual
feedback from the Instructor or their tutor.
Use the grading system to examine forum ratings and quiz result for each
student. You can have the students sorted from lowest to highest grade to
identify those who need assistance. Examine some of the forum postings from low
performing students, and adjust this in the grade book if necessary to arrive
at your mark for the student. Find a posting to praise, before identifying
deficiencies. Then examine the work of a sample of other students (about
5%).
Here are some feedback sentences to use:
Well done. Your post on ...
Your initial responses to the questions were not made by the deadline. ...
You answered the questions by did not post any replies to other students. ...
You do not appear to have made any contributions to the forum. Do you need some assistance?
You do not appear to have attempted the quiz. Do you need some assistance?
The system indicates that you are a student in this module. There are forums which students are required to post contributions to. You do not appear to have made any contributions for the first two topics. These forums are designed to help with your study. Please let me know if I can be of assistance. You can contact me via the system, by e-mail, telephone, or book a time to visit my office.
As mentioned previously, you do not appear to have made any contributions to forums. I have asked the Course Convenor to contact you to see if there is a problem with your enrollment in this course.
Your posting about ___ (___ PM) appears to use text copied from ___ but without being marked as a quote. The ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre has online documents and courses to assist with this. Keep in mind that failure to cite sources can result in a reduced mark (down to zero) and disciplinary action under the ANU Code of Practice for Student Academic Integrity.
Here is an example of a feedback message:
General Feedback
Your mark for the topic is now available in the grade-book. Some will also have a comment or suggestion on your forum postings.
The average mark was 1 "At expectation". Three students were graded at 2 (greater than expectation). Four students made limited, or no, contributions and so their mark was zero.Please keep in mind that the reader may see your post out of context, so if you are replying to something briefly tell us what it is, not just "I agree". Also, remember when you use words, or an idea, from someone else you are required to cite that source. This was covered in the Professional Communications courses which most students have done (further assistance is available from the ANU Academic Skills & Learning Centre).
For Topic 2 ...
You might like to attend ...."
The instructor will then consider the student and tutor ratings, to
propose a mark for the examiner to approve.
Here is an example assignment feedback message:
Results for Assignment 1
The results for Assignment 1 have been released. The average mark was 62% (Credit):
Results for Assignment 1
Grade Number High Distinction 12 Distinction 23 Credit 34 Pass 12 Fail 10
Some problem areas for the assignment were:
- Not Answering the question: ...
- No Detail: ...
ps: As the topics and forum questions, are designed to prepare you for the assignments. You can use what you wrote in the forums as part of your assignment.
Jambon, F., Girard, P., & Aït-Ameur, Y. (2001, May). Interactive System Safety and Usability enforced with the development process. In IFIP International Conference on Engineering for Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 39-55). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. URL https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F3-540-45348-2_8.pdf#page=5
Worthington, T. (2012, July). A Green computing professional education
course online: Designing and delivering a course in ICT sustainability using
Internet and eBooks. In 2012 7th International Conference on Computer
Science & Education (ICCSE) (pp. 263-266). IEEE. URL https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCSE.2012.6295070