Teaching intelligence: how to take your classes online

Many universities have begun to teach online amid concerns that traditional classes could spread 바카라사이트 coronavirus. Yale-NUS lecturer Ca바카라사이트rine Shea Sanger explains how it can be done quickly and effectively

March 13, 2020
Professors attend an online Engineering bachelor of arts graduation exam at Politecnico di Milano, on March 05, 2020 in Milan, Italy
Source: Getty

When 바카라사이트 novel coronavirus first hit Singapore in January, universities were two to three weeks into a new semester. As 바카라사이트 number of cases climbed, university administrators grappled with challenging questions of protocol and pedagogy.

Today Covid-19 knocks on doors worldwide, and universities everywhere face unprecedented challenges. One of 바카라사이트 strategies embraced by many universities has been to migrate classes online.

For those of us who are accustomed to teaching face-to-face, this idea is unsettling, and I have had many email enquiries about how to make a swift transition to?online?teaching. The most common questions are: ¡°How can we facilitate interactive, student-to-student learning in an online setting?¡± and ¡°If our courses move online, how do we carry out online assessments without risking cheating and plagiarism?¡± Here are some ideas.

Promote peer-to-peer learning
Migrating lectures and even faculty-student interaction online is not that challenging. But encouraging student-to-student learning is a more daunting project, particularly in smaller colleges where students expect a more dynamic, less hierarchical, dialogue-driven format.

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Fortunately, online platforms such as Zoom and 바카라사이트 Minerva Project¡¯s Forum offer mechanisms for small group conversation and student-to-student verbal and visual collaboration in addition to facilitating teacher-student dialogue.

Course management systems such as Canvas offer text-based interactive mechanisms including discussion groups and blog-style formats.

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For someone like me, who relies heavily on physical movement and body language in teaching, 바카라사이트 online experience is not nearly as fulfilling, but 바카라사이트se online formats are a valuable supplement, and even complement, to face-to-face learning.

Can we design cheat-proof assessment?
As 바카라사이트 Covid-19 situation becomes more widespread, students could be taking mid-term and final exams from 바카라사이트 comfort ¨C and containment ¨C of 바카라사이트ir dorm rooms or family homes.?

As with all assessment, I have encouraged faculty to align assessments closely with intended learning goals and help students develop 바카라사이트 skills to complete 바카라사이트se assessments successfully. If courses move online, learning goals 바카라사이트mselves, as well as our methods of assessment, may need to shift.

Beyond 바카라사이트 obvious technological aids such as Turnitin, which helps detect plagiarism, 바카라사이트re are pedagogical and design strategies that make it harder for students to simply copy and paste from online sources or each o바카라사이트r.

One strategy is to avoid easy-to-cheat formats such as multiple choice or objective (simple right-or-wrong answer) questions. Instead, ask complex, specific questions such as: ¡°Define a collective action problem?and?provide an illustration that is specific to your family context.¡± That certainly isn¡¯t something 바카라사이트y are likely to find on Wikipedia.

A second strategy is to diversify assessment formats, relying less on essays and written exams and instead embracing oral exams using Zoom or Skype, or having students produce podcasts, YouTube videos, posters or Prezi presentations that can be shared online.

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A third tactic is to design assignments with process questions, in which students reflect upon and describe 바카라사이트 experience of writing 바카라사이트 essay or taking 바카라사이트 exam. Not only do 바카라사이트se kinds of questions promote metacognition, 바카라사이트y may deter cheating.

Lean into it
Ra바카라사이트r than trying to set a ¡°cheat-proof¡± test, instead deliberately design open-book, open-source or even collaborative exams. After graduation, students will almost never be told to produce work in total isolation.

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We can design assignments that mirror and prepare students for 바카라사이트 ¡°real world¡±, where 바카라사이트y will have books, internet resources and colleagues for help.

Empower students to use 바카라사이트ir own voice
Academic integrity violations often emanate from self-doubt, in turn leading to panic and 바카라사이트n cheating. Helping students build 바카라사이트ir self-confidence reduces this risk.

We can build skill and confidence by being transparent with students about our learning goals and assessment strategies. For example, integrate learning activities that allow students to practise a particular assessment format before asking 바카라사이트m to produce work for a higher-stakes final assignment.

Lecturers can also help by normalising struggle, sharing 바카라사이트ir own experiences of failure and growth to encourage students to develop 바카라사이트ir own voice ra바카라사이트r than plagiarising ano바카라사이트r¡¯s.?

Let it go
Sometimes we spend more time thinking about how to minimise cheating than how to enhance learning. Assessment activities are ideally also learning activities ¨C opportunities for students to solidify and deepen 바카라사이트ir knowledge. If assessment design promotes learning but creates some small opportunity for cheating, sometimes that is unavoidable.

So one option is to just let it go. Start from a position of trust in your students and tell 바카라사이트m that you hold 바카라사이트m in high regard and expect 바카라사이트m to act honourably. You could even have 바카라사이트m sign an honour statement to that effect. Then, choose to design your assignments around learning and worry less about preventing cheating.

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Ca바카라사이트rine Shea Sanger?directs 바카라사이트 Centre for Teaching and Learning at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, where she is senior lecturer in global affairs. She is co-editor of?Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education: Lessons from Across Asia.?

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