Student Q & A: Sean LeFever

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Sean LeFever, Material Science & Engineering Grad

Sean LeFever is a recent graduate from the Ohio State University, having just finished a degree in Materials Science and Engineering this spring. We asked Sean to give us his perspective on the upcoming online offerings.

Q: Currently, undergraduates are able to sign up for these new online sections for the first time. When making the choice between taking a traditional, in-person section or an online section, what do you think students will or should consider?

Sean: A lot of students will consider the convenience of online courses versus traditional courses.  The ability to stay at home and get work done in their pajamas is an attractive feature of the online section.  They should also consider their individual learning styles.  For some students, learning through the internet without engaging in person is not the best way for them to learn.

Q: Nationally, online classes are being requested more. Why do you think they appeal to students?

Sean: The obvious appeal is that you can get work done from the comforts of your own home.  There is no wasted time commuting to classes, and if students feel like they learn sufficiently online then there is really no reason to ever leave your house.

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Instructor Q & A: Melissa Beers, Ryan Hansen & Jackie Spiegel of Psychology

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In this series of posts, we’ll ask instructors to describe their experience at the onset of the online GE creation process. Once the semester has finished, we’ll revisit them to see how things went. 

psychPsychology 1100 is a popular GE course that has been taught online through a number of different incarnations.  It is currently taught by Ryan Hansen, a graduate teaching assistant in clinical psychology, who will continue to teach through fall semester.  The original version was created by Jackie Von Spiegel, who is now an advisor in Psychology Department. We spoke with Ryan, Jackie, and PS 1100 Program Director Melissa Beers about how this course first began and what it has evolved into over the years.

Q: Thinking back to the initial decision to create the online general education courses and your involvement, what were some of your first concerns or questions?

 Melissa Beers (MB):  I was first involved with developing an online section of Introduction to Psychology in 2007.  Our biggest concern at the start was what resources it would take to mount the course online. At that time, the only models we had to work with were examples in which faculty programmed their own courses, and those were an enormous amount of work for a questionable return on investment.  Carmen was key.  From the beginning, the ability to build, structure, and manage the course through Carmen was essential. Carmen makes it extremely easy to manage an online course.

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Instructor Q & A: Mike Bierschenk

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In this series of posts, we’ll ask instructors to describe their experience at the onset of the online GE creation process. Once the semester has finished, we’ll revisit them to see how things went. 
Mike Bierschenk, English Department

Mike Bierschenk, English Department

Mike Bierschenk spoke with us about the process so far in developing the online sections of English 1110, a first-year composition course that focuses on teaching students skills in analytical thinking and writing as well as introducing them to university culture. Four online sections of this course will be available to students for the fall 2014 semester. On average, around ninety-four sections of this course are offered each semester at the Ohio State University. Starting in August, the new online sections will serve approximately seventy-two university students in their first offering.

Q: Thinking back to the initial decision to create the online general education courses and your involvement, what were some of your first concerns or questions?

A:     One of our first concerns was participation: what does it mean to participate in an online class? Is it just reading? Taking quizzes? We knew from the start that that wouldn’t cut it for us; we teach our GTAs that lecturing is often the least effective form of teaching, and instead encourage active student engagement, so there was no way we wanted to take a step backward! Luckily it turns out that in a writing class you can always get students to, natch, write. We’re planning for active written engagement, and we’re writing our syllabi and assignment prompts with that in mind. Continue reading