Holy cow! We’ve completed an entire year of implementation, and are working on year 2.
The Numbers
Year 1 stats for completion and success in next course were not as awesome as we had hoped, but we’re still analyzing those data. We’ve found it very difficult, this early in the process, to run an accurate comparison of Math Lit students to historical numbers for the old, traditional sequence. Not all the data seem complete and accurate. You’re comparing a mixed bag of all students (before) to only non-STEM, and presumably weaker, math students (now). You’re comparing one 16-week course to two 8-week courses, so not as many students complete the whole 16 weeks. The list goes on. So one thing we need to sort out this year is a clearer way of collecting and analyzing data that will tell us what we want to know.
The Technology
A major change we are making this year is to drop ALEKS and switch to McGraw-Hill Connect. The hope is that this will provide a more seamless experience for our students, with all their assignments being submitted in one place, organized in a way that is easier to navigate. Before, students submitted some things in Desire2Learn (our school’s LMS) and other things in ALEKS. They had two logins, and two systems to learn. Now, we can link Connect into Desire2Learn so that students have only one login. Once they are in Connect, they have a nice, organized home screen with links to the assignments for each lesson. It already seems to be making a difference. The learning curve was easier on students, and all my students are logged in and submitting assignments. Last year, I had students who took a week or more to get into ALEKS, and some never really started submitting online assignments regularly in EITHER system. The downside is that some of the content for our book is being developed as we go, so timelines can be uncertain. And Connect was not necessarily designed as a comprehensive LMS, so many of the grading features (and the gradebook itself) are clunky. Down the road, we hope for a closer integration with Desire2Learn that will embed Connect in a way that we can use the Desire2Learn gradebook seamlessly.
Constant Changes
Our instructors have been fabulous, jumping in and giving it a try. We’ve gotten lots of good ideas from them. But we’ve made somewhat significant changes to the course every semester so far (technology, schedules, etc.) and I’m starting to feel bad. And with Connect material rolling out as the semester progresses, we’re asking instructors to upload assignments and make corrections when we find mistakes. We’re also learning quirks of the system that require us to make adjustments. As co-coordinator, I feel like we’re making it difficult on the instructors, especially our adjuncts. I’m sure they just want to learn how things work with this course, and get used to it! But with a brand new project like this, you must be willing to make adjustments as you go. No one can expect everything to be perfect the first, second, or even third time around. I hope they all continue to patient and flexible as we continue to assess how things are going, and make revisions accordingly.