Download VIRTUAL LEARNING CENTER - MERLOT International Conference

VIRTUAL LEARNING CENTER:
ACADEMIC CYBER SUPPORT FOR THE NEW FRONTIER
MERLOT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
AUGUST 10, 2006
TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Conference Presenters
 Dr. Monetha Reaves, Director of Academic Enrichment,
Advisement, & Orientation ([email protected])
 Dr. Johnanna Grimes, Director of AEAO Writing Center
and Coordinator of Evening Tutorials
([email protected])
 Dr. Jane Asamani, Coordinator of AEAO Reading Center
([email protected])
 Mr. Mohsen Shirani, Coordinator of AEAO Mathematics
Center ([email protected])
 Mrs. Barbara Kannard, Coordinator of AEAO ICAN
Tutorial Program ([email protected])
How was the VLC developed?
 The VLC was developed in partial fulfillment of the
goals of a Title III E-Learning grant.
 The VLC was developed by a team of twelve
Academic Enrichment faculty and staff members.
AEAO E-Learning Team
What is the Virtual Learning Center?
 The Virtual Learning Center is an online learning
center developed using the WebCT platform.
 Students can get immediate feedback on the work that
they do.
 A number of reports on student performance and use of
the Center can be generated.
 It is the platform presently used for both RODP and
TSU online courses, so students do not have to learn
another system for online use.
What is the Virtual Learning Center?
 The Virtual Learning Center is a tool which supports
student learning.
 It offers additional practice for skill building and
mastery of concepts.
 It offers additional information and explanations.
 It contains links to other websites which provide
additional practice and information.
What is the Virtual Learning Center?
 The Virtual Learning Center is a teaching tool which
instructors can use.
 to supplement their lessons
 to provide additional information and practice in a
particular area
 as homework assignments
 as extra work
 as preparation for testing or retesting.
What is its purpose?
 The purpose of the VLC is to provide academic
support for students on a twenty-four/seven basis.
How is the VLC structured?
 At present, it has four components:
 A Writing Center
 A Math Center
 A Reading Center
 And the ICAN, Resource Center
How are students enrolled in the center?
 Students may be enrolled in the VLC in one of three
ways:
 referral by faculty or advisors
 referral related to the Rising Junior Examination
 self-referral
http://www.tnstate.edu/interior.asp?mid=1529&ptid=1
How effective is the VLC?
 During the fall, spring, and summer of 2006, a pilot
of the VLC was conducted.
 Of the students responding to a question concerning
whether or not use of the VLC had improved their
grade in some course, 77.67% indicated that it had.
Student Demographics
What are the plans for the
future of the center?
 More testing of the effectiveness of its components
 Expansion of its offerings
 Development of more components
What does Virtual ICAN offer?
 Virtual resource center for all students
 Orientation
 Welcome
 Module features
 Learning Objects
 Training center for ICAN Peer Tutors
 Module features
 Future plans for Virtual ICAN
Who are the members of the
Virtual Math Center Team?
Introduction to the Virtual Math Center Team:
 Mohsen Shirani
 Mike Akbari
 Hanan Kuzat
 Jeanetta Jackson
Moving the Earth to Learn Math
What courses are offered in the Virtual
Math Center?
Courses:





Basic and Elementary Algebra
Intermediate Algebra
College Algebra
Pre-Calculus
Basic Calculus
What are the features of the Virtual
Math Center?
Homepage:
 Courses
 Additional Links
 Tools & Downloads
 My Grades
 References
What is the average enrollment for
the Virtual Math Center?
 The enrollment for Fall 2005 was 615.
 The enrollment for Spring 2006 was 427.
Practice
problems in
the Virtual
Math Center,
Module 3
Who are the members of the Virtual
Reading Center Team?
Introduction to the Virtual Reading Center Team:
Dr. Jane Asamani
Ms. Jonelle Hinsey
Ms. Carmen Jones
Mr. Kenneth Cooper
What are the Virtual Reading
Center’s resources?
 Course Content
 Homepage
 Content and resources
 Academic Progress
 Progression Study
What is the purpose of the Virtual
Writing Center?
What topics are presented in the
Virtual Writing Center?
The Rationale:
 Grammar—Key Trouble Spots (not intended to be
exhaustive, but the list is being expanded)
 Sentence Structure—The challengers (e.g., fragments,
confused constructions, parallelism)
 Composition
 Paragraph
 Essay
 Research Paper (Under construction as summer project with
representative from the English Department)
What topics are presented in the
Virtual Writing Center?
The Rationale, continued:
 Style:
 Redundancy
 Idioms (particularly useful for ESL students, an area which
we plan to expand as well)
 Revision
 (Individual modules have strategies; however, there are
some students who may need only a general
overview/review of revision strategies)
What is the structure of the
writing modules?
 Lesson—explanations with examples, and opportunities
for self-assessment
 SVA Module
 Helpful External Links—(The goal being to select not
only those that have been adjudged superior by others—
Purdue Owl, Leo (St. Cloud), Guide to Grammar and
Writing, but others that we discovered in our research,
including the Merlot collection).
 Fragment Module
What is the structure of the
writing modules?
 Assessment Tools
 Self Tests (Internal—WebCT)
 Self Tests (external)
 Quizzes (WebCT Quiz tool)
 Test Banks of Questions
 Banks of Writing Topics
 Evaluation of Module
 Student Survey Tool
Questions and Answers