Study 101
Study 101 University Math Study Skills Course
When: 2018-2021
My Role: Instructional Designer, eLearning Developer, LMS Administrator, Instructional Specialist
Created For: A Large Public University
Modes of Instruction: Hybrid, in-person, live online, asyncrhonous online
Student Feedback:
“Since everything is online this semester it’s hard to interact with your peers but this class has made it so easy for me to connect with my classmates.”
“Even though it was online the atmosphere in the class was fun and well organized.”
“It was a very fun and inviting environment. I felt that it was easy to learn and ask questions, and I really responded to the instructor’s teaching style.”
About
Study 101 is a course on college readiness and math study skills for first year students at a large public university. Students are co-enrolled in an intermediate algebra class. Topics in the course range from soft skills like growth mindset and anxiety management to hard skills like calculator and learning technology use. The course is offered in live in-person, hybrid, and asynchronous online. I have worked as one of a team of Instructional Specialist Coordinators for the course for the last two years. My responsibilities include instructional design, eLearning development, project management, and LMS administration. The course has between 1500 and 1800 students each semester.
Process
Study 101 is designed and implemented cyclically by a team of coordinators and instructors. When I first joined the team in May 2018 it was as a study skills and learning science SME. Since May 2019 I have worked as a coordinator for the course and was initially responsible for a curriculum redesign.
To start this process I facilitated meetings with my co-coordinators, SME’s, and our instructional staff to define our mission, vision, and learning objectives. As we turned to designing the course my co-coordinators, who each had backgrounds in math education, took on the primary role of SMEs for our math content and designers for our math activities while I focused on our study skills curriculum and LMS site creation and administration. I also served as a project manager overseeing and coordinating the work of our instructional team as they created lesson plans and in-class materials. I trained the team on our lesson plan standards, and reviewed completed lessons to make sure they were properly designed to achieve their intended learning outcomes.
During the fall semester 2019 I taught sections of the class and supervised instructors. As a team we met weekly to discuss our student’s progress and make note of needed improvements to our lessons. At the end of the semester I again facilitated team meetings, this time focused on synthesizing student and instructor feedback for improvement for the spring version of the course. Improvements to the course were implemented following the same model as the initial design.
In addition during fall 2019 I was responsible for creating an asynchronous online version of the course which I taught spring 2020. Using the same learning outcomes I designed a new course and developed eLearning activities that students could complete on their own time. My experience with this development was crucial when in response to the COVID-19 pandemic the format of the course was changed from in person to live-online. To best support our students we decided on a HyFlex model where students could collaborate synchronously and asynchronously as they saw fit. I again served as a project manager for the redesign of the course, and was personally responsible for the update of our LMS and the creation of eLearning activities in Panopto. That fall our 1600+ students noted the quality of the course website, the highly engaging curriculum, and the care put into the class compared to the other courses they were taking. This feedback was repeated in the spring version of the course, which was largely the same.
Technology
Study 101 utilizes the following software:
Brightspace, PowerPoint, Desmos, Panopto, Google Jamboard, Zoom,
Theory
Study 101 was created utilizing the following instructional design models and pedagogy:
ADDIE, HyFlex, Universal Design for Learning, Complex Instruction, Bloom’s Taxonomy