Blend-It Bootcamp: Accelerate Active And Collaborative Learning In Blended Courses

Concurrent Session 1 & 2 (combined)

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Session Materials

Brief Abstract

In this "bootcamp," participants will use tools and techniques for blending a course or course session to accelerate active and collaborative learning which better emulates real-world situations for students and leads to higher levels of learning. Particular emphasis is placed on selecting technologies aligned with pedagogical objectives and strategies to overcome common obstacles to implementing active or collaborative blended learning strategies.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Paige McDonald, The George Washington University

Paige McDonald is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Research and Learning at The George Washington University. She is currently working to promote blended learning and develop blended courses in Health Professions education. Paige's research interests include blended learning, collaborative learning, reflective practice, and course design for higher levels of learning.

Co-presenter: Laurie Lyons, School of Medicine & Health Sciences | George Washington University

Laurie B. Lyons is the Assistant Dean for Academic Planning and Curriculum Management at the George Washington University's School of Medicine & Health Sciences, which encompasses a range of on-campus and online programs. She has a breadth of experience in instructional design and faculty development and is currently deepening her skills in program assessment, strategy, and planning. Laurie has a Master's degree in Educational Technology Leadership from the George Washington University and is certified as an online facilitator for the Quality Matters Applying the Rubric Online Workshop.

Co-presenter: Karen Schlumpf, George Washington University

Karen Schlumpf is an epidemiologist and biostatistician within the Department of Clinical and Translational Research at the George Washington University. She is the director of research curriculum within the School of Health Sciences. Prior to becoming full-time faculty in 2013, she served as an adjunct professor for 10 years. Ms Schlumpf's research experience include transfusion medicine, neurogenetic linkage and gene mapping, infantile feeding disorders, and health service utilization. She is currently working on her dissertation, exploring the sensemaking process of families experiencing terminal illness.

Additional Authors

Extended Abstract

 

In this BLEND-IT "bootcamp," participants will use tools and techniques for blending a course or course session to promote active and collaborative learning which better emulates real-world situations for students and can lead to higher levels of learning. Active and collaborative learning techniques can promote higher levels of learning and skill development when purposefully designed into blended and online courses (McDonald et al., 2020). Blended learning holds promise as an approach that effectively facilitates active and collaborative learning in higher education (McDonald et al., 2020; McDonald et al. 2021).

To capitalize on this potential, we developed a structured process to help faculty blend courses using pedagogically-driven active and collaborative learning strategies. While COVID-19 necessitated “just in time” online and blended learning, our structured approach encourages purposive selection of pedagogical techniques aligned to course objectives and learning outcomes. Our process has been developed and tested through work with Physician Assistant (PA) and Physical Therapy (PT) courses at The George Washington University, programs traditionally heavily reliant upon face-to-face delivery models. With this process we are seeking to help faculty encourage active engagement in the process of learning by leveraging the unique benefits of the blended delivery model and thereby promote higher levels of learning.

In this workshop we will guide participants through our clear and user friendly process for helping faculty blend or enhance a course to to support active and collaborative learning, emphasizing how to select technology that aligns with their learning objectives. We will provide examples from courses we have revised, some which were blended, reducing seat time, and others that were enhanced with asynchronous activities but did not reduce seat time. We will share a worksheet we developed that faculty can use for their own courses or that others can use when working with faculty to implement blended or enhanced courses to support active learning. We will also share tools to assist with choosing online tools to support the chosen active and collaborative learning strategies.

Participants will form small groups based on their role and needs. The small groups will work through our process for blending a course session and selecting appropriate tools to use, while strategizing ways to overcome challenges to adopting active and collaborative pedagogies (such as class size, time constraints, and student resistance). Participants will leave the "bootcamp" with tools and techniques to promote active and collaborative learning in blended courses or course sessions.

Session Objectives:

  • Discuss how blended active and collaborative learning leads to course designs that better emulate real-world situations for students and to higher levels of learning

  • Apply tools for blending a course session that are focused on pedagogical goals for active and collaborative learning

  • Strategize ways to overcome common obstacles to implementing active and collaborative learning strategies in blended courses

References:

McDonald PL, Weaver, GC, Barnett, JS, Straker, HO. C4 Tech: Virtual Connections between the Classrooms, Clinicians and Community Clinics to Bridge the Gap between Research and Practice. Medical Teacher. 2021 Aug. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2021.1951692 +Ranked Q1 for Education and Educational Research by Journal Citation Reports.

McDonald PL, Straker HO, Weaver GC. Connecting Classrooms, Clinicians and Community Clinics through Technology (C4Tech) for Active and Collaborative Learning. Journal of Physician Assistant Education. 2020 Sept; 31(3),133-139. doi: 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000310 +Though not ranked in Journal Citation Reports the journal is distributed nationally to Physician Assistant (PA) educators in 238 PA programs.

 

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