USING THE EXCELSIOR OWL TO TEACH A FLIPPED COMPOSITION CLASS

AACCAndrea Dardello, Ph. D. April 2014

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SOME REACTIONS TO THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM

WHAT IS THE FLIPPED CLASS?

Designed to meet various learning styles and to help students regulate their own learning by providing instructional videos and other multimedia as a primary way to deliver homework material, the flipped classroom enables students and instructors to devote more time to address challenging concepts in class.

---Jackie Gerstein

THE FLIPPED CLASS: A FOUR-STEP PROCESS My concept of the flipped class is based

on Jackie Gerstein’s four-step process found in her interactive e-book, The Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture.

This presentation will explain how the Excelsior OWL anticipates and aids in this process.

STEP 1: GET AND KEEP STUDENTS’ ATTENTION.

STUDENTS CHOOSE AN AVATAR THAT MAKES THEM THE EDITOR AND MANAGER OF AN AD COMPANY.

AS MANAGERS, STUDENTS THEN ASSIGN JOBS TO THEIR EMPLOYEES.

THE EMPLOYEE IS THEN ASSIGNED A JOB….

THE OBJECT OF THE GAME IS TO CONTINUE TO CLICK ON THE EMPLOYEE TO PROMPT HIM OR HER TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT IN THE CORRECT ORDER.

AT THE END OF THE GAME, PROGRESS IS DETERMINED AND BONUSES ASSIGNED.

STEP 2: HAVE STUDENTS TO REFLECT ON WHAT THEY LEARNED IN STEP 1. HERE’S WHAT STUDENTS HAD TO SAY AFTER PLAYING THE PAPER CAPERS GAME:

“When you revise and edit you should spell-check, and do grammar and plagiarism checks.”

“Do you always have to do it in that specific order? Can you flip steps in the middle if you felt more comfortable with that?”

 ”Paper chasers is a games that topics were everywhere. Not a good source for helping construct an academic essay.”

 ”I didnt know that you could think of a wide topic and then narrow it down.”

“I did not know people actually follow steps to writing i thought they just started writing and then went back to edit and revise.”

WHAT ELSE STUDENTS HAD TO SAY… “To remember to track where I get my

sources from as well as staying in order.” “There are multiple important steps you

need to take in order to write a successful paper. You can' go straight into writing a final draft of the paper without thinking about a topic your reader would enjoy reading about, narrowing and developing ideas, reading and taking notes on your topic, outlining ideas for your paper, creating a rough draft of your paper, and revising and editing your rough draft.”

 

STEP 3: ASK STUDENTS TO APPLY WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED FOR A LARGER, ACADEMIC AUDIENCE.

Items from the OWL…..Transfer easily into an

LMS

STEP 4: ASSESS WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED AND WHY—OR WHY NOT Please answer the following questions, and

submit them with your portfolio. Responses do not have to be in essay form, but should be typed and double-spaced.

What has this assignment taught you about the writing process that you did not already know?

What feedback have you received from your peers, writing guide, or other trained writing professional, and how have you used their feedback in your essay?

In what areas of your writing do you see growth? Where do opportunities for improvements exist? Look at the grading rubric for this assignment. Based

on the assignment objectives, what grade would you give yourself on this assignment and why?

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS Students from Howard Community College

who were a part of the test group that used the OWL with the flipped model succeeded at a higher rate (89%) than the control group who was not exposed to the content of the OWL (78%).

This finding corroborates with findings from five other schools involved in the study which indicate that overall, members of the test group who were exposed to the OWL for the entire study witnessed a 5-point difference in grades over the control group who were not.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT FOR YOU NOW THAT YOU HAVE SEEN What new understanding of the flipped

classroom do you have now after seeing this presentation?

What questions remain? What are you led to do next?/What

would you like to know more about? How might we get in contact with you to

share more?

WORKS CITED Excelsior College. Excelsior Online

Writing Lab. The Kresge Foundation. n.d. Web. 4

April 2014.http://owl.excelsior.edu.

Gerstein, Jackie. Flipped Class: The Full Picture. Creative Commons, 2012. Kindle file.

Louise, Brianna. “You Live With Your In-Laws???” Cartoon. 26 July

2013.Web. 4 April 2014.