Erica Fleming
Lecturer in English
Last spring, I attended the BlendLT session at the Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium. I heard success stories from other Penn State faculty, and was intrigued by the possibilites this type of teaching format might present for my own classes, specifically Business Writing. I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked with the BlendLT team this summer, and with the help of my instructional designer from the College of the Liberal Arts, I have implemented a blended classroom into my two Business Writing classes in Fall 2017.
ENGL 202D was previously 100% residential. Through the BlendLT program, it has been re-imagined as a blended 67% residential and 33% online course. During a MWF schedule, this meant that one class each week did not meet in the classroom. Instead, students did class activities online at their own pace.
For some online classes I incorporated video lectures for online class days to replace “Sage on the Stage” lectures: necessary content that included very little student interaction.
On other online class days students participated in peer-review assignments which used to take place in class, and now take place online.
Reasons for Blending the Busines Writing Classroom
ENGL202D: Business writing is a class meant to prepare students for writing they will do in their workplaces. Much of the writing, reviewing, and collaborating they will do professionally is currently conducted online. Companies they work for may require online training; they will be asked to collaborate and review the work of their peers (everything from 360 degree performance reviews to team-based projects to a co-worker asking their opinion on a current project); they may even work remotely with domestic or international offices via video- or tele-conference.
The structure of the class is meant to mimic the modern workplace, forcing students to work more independently than they are used to in a typical college classroom, but also allowing the freedom to work at their own pace while still meeting deadlines.
From this perspective, the blended format is an incredibly applicable way to introduce students to the practical ways they will be writing in their own professional contexts once they enter the workforce.
Evidence of Success
Course Learning Objectives
As a result to the changes to my class, I needed to revisit and revise the objectives presented to my students as a guide for what they could expect to learn by the end of the semester. Here are my revised objectives:
- identify the persuasive purpose of any piece of writing (no matter how large or small) and consistently write with that purpose in mind
- observe appropriate conventions and formats for letters, resumes, memoranda, and a variety of informal and formal reports
- apply the design principles of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity to documents to make your writing more accessible
- create usable documents that reduce effort for your audience
- write concisely without wasted words
- collaborate effectively with peers in a community of
- communicate effectively online in
New Ways of Assessment: Peer Review as a Learned, Applicable Skill
One of the biggest changes to my class has been the addition of online peer review as a graded assessment. Peer review is a requirement for all composition classes in the English department, but usually those student interactions are simply an in-class activity that preceeds revisions and final drafts.
For my blended classroom, I chose to take a week of class time to actually teach effective peer review techniques, and to instruct my students in practical ways to offer constructive feed back. We also spent a lot of time discussing the ways “peer review” is used in many workplaces. In almost every practical application, the “peer review” process is one that takes place remotely (online or otherwise) rather than face-to-face.
When developing the learning outcomes and evaluative criteria for this assignment, I tried to make each one applicable to the way that they might eventually practice these skills in the future.
Peer Review Learning Objectives:
After completing the five graded Peer Reviews, you will be able to:
- Request peer input to improve areas of uncertainty
- Read critically with attention to the details of a specific piece of writing
- Formulate and communicate constructive feedback on a peer’s work
- Evaluate and incorporate appropriate feedback on your own work
Peer Review Evaluative Criteria:
An effective peer review will
- keep the needs and motivations of the audience at the center of all comments
- offer comments that make consistently persuasive, evidence-based arguments for the changes suggested
- get to the point immediately without any wasted words
- be well organized and easy to follow
- answer any questions from your audience completely and thoroughly in a way that aids revision
New Ways of Consuming Content: Video Lectures for Online Class Days
On many weeks during previous, traditional Business Writing classes, there were lectures that rarely changed from semester to semester. I theorized that these lectures would be more engaging when delivered online, when students could access the material at their own pace and revisit the lectures later if necessary. Multimedia support from the College of the Liberal Arts helped to create lecture videos that students now view in place of absorbing that material during class time.
We transformed an office space to record about 15 video lectures that would take the place of online class days. Our set-up included a black background screen, a TV monitor as a prompter, and two cameras to allow us to cut scenes. The recording was relatively quick, and usually we did just two takes and picked the better of the two.
We added text to the videos during post production to allow students to more easily follow along and reinforce key concepts. Student feedback indicated that the text was particularly helpful in focusing their attention on important content.
During online class days, students accessed video lectures through a Canvas page. Canvas modules were organized so that the “ONLINE Class” materials were clearly marked. They had until midnight of the online class day to watch the videos and respond to discussion forums about the content.