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The School of Communication & Information Professional Development Studies Program�

Regina Efimchik, Director

Steve Garwood, Assistant Dean

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SC&I-PDS Details

Part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Non-Credit/Certificate
Designed for working professionals seeking professional development
Non-matriculated students

Not officially enrolled at Rutgers University

Variety of topics:

Public Relations
Business & Organizational Communication
Leadership & Managerial Communication

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SO I’VE GOT THE CLASSES - NOW WHAT?

Image Source: https://this.org/2010/06/02/off-topic/

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SC&I-PDS Details

Every Class was Unique

– but –

There Were Some Things all had in Common

Fully online classes
4 weeks long
Instructors recorded Video Lectures
All used an Online Discussion Board

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Discussion Boards: Basics

An active, online, conversation between and among Instructor(s) and Student(s)
Like texting

Participants read what has been posted
Participants type a response or answer based on what they’ve read
Participants submit their contribution

Enables asynchronous communication

None of the participants need to participate

At the same time
In the same place

�

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Discussion Boards: The Good

“Being able to reflect before responding and being able to look forward and backward in a discussion was beneficial.”

(Swan, 2001, p. 314)

“In a traditional setting, students usually don’t get to participate as much, but in this class I felt like I took a much more active role.”

(Swan, 2001, p. 314)

“Students who normally would not participate in class did, people who would normally dominate class discussions couldn’t.”

(Swan, 2001, p. 314)

�

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Discussion Boards: �Room for Improvement

Posting can feel like placing a message in a bottle

No assurance students will receive a reply

(Rovai, 2007)

Absence of immediate feedback is like speaking into a vacuum

(Hew & Cheung 2014)

Some students feel forced to participate

Will do the minimum
Discussion may not be a viable learning experience

�

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Feedback

Anything that might strengthen students’ capacity to self-regulate their own performance

Nicole & Macfarlane-Dick (2006)

Feedback should:

Be Positive
Be Constructive
Help Students identify gaps in their knowledge
Guide Students’ future learning

Feedback should never:

Discourage Students
Threaten Students’ self-esteem

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Immediate Feedback

Topic(s) remain fresh in students’ minds
Students have time to change/adjust their work before moving on to other things
Students who receive immediate feedback often earn higher scores in fast-paced, online courses

(Lemley, Sudweeks, Howell, Laws, & Sawyer, 2007)

Risks of late/delayed feedback – Students:

Can become frustrated
May no longer remember details
Have moved on to other things

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Reality

Online teaching requires 14% more of an instructor’s time than traditional classroom instruction

(Edwards, 2005; Nagel & Kotze, 2010; Tomei, 2006)

In a 40 hour work week

Online faculty work an average of 44.19 hours
116% of what is required

“I often spend time beyond my scheduled hours interacting in my course and preparing new material.”

(Mandernach, Hudson, & Wise, 2013, p. 12.)

�

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SC&I-PDS Details

Every Class was Unique

- but –

There were some Commonalities

Fully online classes
4 weeks long
Instructors recorded Video Lectures
All used an Online Discussion Board

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Video: The Good News

Online learning falls short because it lacks the face-to-face interactivity of traditional classes

(Marks, Sibley, & Arbaugh, 2005)

Video can make the learning environment more interactive

(Delen, Liew, & Wilson, 2014)

Video is a powerful medium

Can be used to hold an audience’s attention
Conveys information in a relatively timely manner

(Michael H. Way, 2009)

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Video: More Good News

Can add nuance to online feedback

Vocal intonations
Facial expressions
Body language
Helps put Instructor

Feedback into proper context

Can accommodate the asynchronous model

Students can watch recorded feedback at:

Different times + multiple times
Different locations

Image Source: http://www.deceptology.com/2012/01/which-face-do-you-trust.html

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Video: The Not-So-Good

Not all students are computer savvy
Instructors are busy; recording videos takes time
Some Instructors appear nervous on camera
“[N]o dialogue, no interactions, no opportunity to ask questions and get an answer right away. No chance for probing deeper following-up with another question.”

(Mathieson, 2012, p. 149)

“[A]synchronous video messages simply do not allow for spontaneous, two-way, discussions”

(Griffiths & Graham, 2009a)

�

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THE PLAN

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Video Feedback Strategy

Short Duration: 5 minutes or less
Positive Feel
Personal: Students names used
Panopto Recording: Familiar with appearance & operation of the video
Feedback emailed to all students
Confirmation of viewership: Test question
Timely: Within 24 hours

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The Plan

All instructors given the option to participate

None coerced into participating

Students surveyed about experience during Week #3
Participating investigators interviewed about experience after class had ended

Week #1 Class

+ Discussion

Week #2 Class

+ Discussion

Week #3 Class

+ Discussion

Week #4 Class

+ Discussion

Video Feedback

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Measuring Discussion Boards

Educationally Valuable Posts (Uzuner, 2007)

Constructive and critical engagement with

Ideas
Key concepts

Eleven characteristics including

1. Analytical 7. Implicative

2. Argumentational 8. Informative

3. Critical 9. Interpretive

4. Explanatory 10. Invitational

5. Exploratory 11. Reflective

6. Heuristic

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Measuring Discussion Boards

Educationally Less Valuable Posts (Uzuner, 2007)

Characterized by a lack of:

Substance
Meaningful engagement

Five characteristics including

Affective

2. Experiential

3. Judgmental

4. Miscellaneous

5. Reproductional

Image Source: http://chrisxia1.blogspot.com/2010/07/blah-blah-blah.html

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Measuring Discussion Boards

Threading (Bliss and Lawrence, 2009)

Speak

An original post to which no one replies

Level One Discussion

An original post that receives only one reply
An original post that receives several replies that are only one layer deep

Level Two Discussion

An original post that receives replies at least two layers deep (includes replies to replies)

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Objective

Can video feedback help online students improve the academic quality of their discussion board postings?

Is it possible to design a strategy that will

enable online instructors and

students to overcome the

potential problems that may

be linked to video feedback

Image Source: http://www.publishyourarticles.net/knowledge-hub/cost-accounting/what-are-the-objectives-of-purchasing/370/

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THE EXECUTION

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14 Classes, 56 Discussion Boards, 3,046 Posts

Business & Organizational Writing

Crisis & Reputation Management

Advanced Public Relations

Professional Presence & Presentations

Interpersonal Communications

Social Media Strategies

Crisis Leadership & Communication

Corporate Social Responsibility

Ethics & the Business of PR

Business & Organizational Writing

Strategic Communication

Planning

Advanced Public Relations Writing

Crisis & Reputation Management

Professional Presence & Presentation

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THE PAYOFF

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Educationally Valuable Posts

(We want these)

Week 1: VF < NVF (but very close)

Week 2: VF > NVF

Week 3: VF >> NVF

Week 4: VF >> NVF

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Educationally Less Valuable Posts

(We don’t want these)

Week 1: VF > NVF

Week 2: VF > NVF

Week 3: VF < NVF

Week 4: VF << NVF

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Overall Discussion Quality

(We want this)

Week 1: VF > NVF

Week 2: VF > NVF

Week 3: VF >> NVF

Week 4: VF >>> NVF

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Speak Threading

(We don’t want this)

Week 1: VF > NVF

Week 2: VF > NVF

Week 3: VF >> NVF

Week 4: VF << NVF

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Level 1 Discussion Threading

(Neither really good, nor really bad)

Week 1: VF >> NVF

Week 2: VF > NVF

Week 3: VF > NVF

Week 4: VF < NVF

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Level 2 Discussion Threading

(We do want this)

Week 1: VF > NVF

Week 2: VF > NVF

Week 3: VF > NVF

Week 4: VF > NVF

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Level 2 Discussion Threading Total Posts

Week 1: VF < NVF

Week 2: VF < NVF

Week 3: VF > NVF

Week 4: VF > NVF

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Anonymous Student Survey (VF)

Unanimous

Feedback was timely
Class/Teacher was engaging/motivating
Methods generated interest in course materials
Discussion quality was high
Video feedback was clear/helpful

Almost Unanimous

High level of interaction
Use of student names/knew student names
Would take class again

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Instructor Interviews (VF)

5-minutes is good/may depend on class size
Able to keep tone positive
Able to use student names
Minor technical issues – nothing they couldn’t handle
Forgetting + Christmas were minor problems
24-hour turnaround

Good for 4 week classes
Bad if students fell behind/Christmas

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Summary of Interviews

Instructors asked: Can Video Feedback Help Improve Student Performance in Online Discussion Boards?

The Most Popular Answer:

“I think so.”

(Instructor Interviews, VF Courses)

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Objective

Can video feedback help online students improve the academic quality of their discussion board postings?

Is it possible to design a strategy that will

enable online instructors and

students to overcome the

Results

Students who received the video feedback displayed a higher level of collaborative, critical, engagement in their online discussions

Busy online instructors were able to manage and sustain the video feedback

strategy

Image Source: http://cliparting.com/free-thumbs-up-clipart-9702/

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Potential Problems

Recording and distributing video feedback takes a lot of time

A number of instructors chose not to participate for that very reason

Some forgot to record/send the video feedback

No student can consider feedback that is not sent

Image Source: http://www.calumo.com/5-reasons-reporting-needs-change-now/not-enough-time-to-test/

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Limitations & Suggestions

What I Did

Only 14 courses
4 week duration
All students were working professionals
Maximum class size of 18
Single University in the Northeastern USA

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Limitations & Suggestions

What Still Needs to be Done

Test more courses
Try full-semesters
Full-time students, matriculated students
Large & very large classes (MOOCs)
The rest of the USA/the rest of the world

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Questions

Image Source: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/punctuation/question-mark