BlackBoard and Beyond

Fall 2005 Faculty Workshop

LeTourneau University

Lauren Bitikofer

BlackBoard usage

• I use BlackBoard in all the classes that I teach to some degree.

• As a minimum I use it to post grades and to communicate with the class.

• At it’s maximum I use it for 98% of the homework

Flight Science 1

• Freshman level class

• 40-50 students

• Unknown abilities as there are no prerequisites

• The course covers a lot of material some of it is just rote knowledge and some requires applied math and physics

• Primarily a text book based course

Flight Science 1

• I needed a way to “force” “encourage” “manipulate” the students to spend time with the book between each class period.

• I want a track record of the student’s progress and discipline.

• When I get the call from Mom or Dad I can easily identify whether “Johnny” is doing the work or not.

• I give a lot of homework.• BlackBoard is the tool.

Flight Science 1

• I have developed question pools for each reading assignment from the text

• Each pool may be 40-60 questions

• I add/modify each semester

• For the 2nd class day they are assigned Chapter 1 to read and take a quiz over the chapter on Bb

• All Bb assignments are open book

Flight Science 1

• The quiz might be randomly selected using about ½ the questions in the pool.

• Would probably force completion during one session so they can’t print it out, then look up the information log back in and complete it.

• Would probably set a time limit to about 1 minute per question to force them to at least go through the chapter to know where to find answers before they start the quiz.

• Every quiz is different due to random selection from a pool.

Flight Science 1

• On class day 2 I cover the really important parts of Chapter 1 or the parts that easily misunderstood.

• If a student has done their homework, they’re ready for the lecture

• I have a record of their effort for the day

Flight Science 1

• All quizzes go off line at 7:00AM on the day they are due.

• I always include the due dates in with the quiz title.

• Chapter 2 (1/14/05)

• I don’t post quizzes ahead and expect them to remember that’s it’s due in a week or two or three.

Flight Science 1

• Day 3– Quiz due over Chapter 2– Quiz due over Chapter 1– Lecture on Chapter 2

• Day 4– Quiz due over chapter 3– Quiz due over chapters 1 & 2 (combined)– Lecture on chapter 3

Flight Science 1

• Bb becomes a drill tool that keep the students engaged between class periods.

• This works well for the rote subject material.• I also quiz the computational material and Bb 6.3

has new features that will make this work even better.

• The last thing I want is for a student to come into a test not knowing whether or not they understand the material.

Flight Science 1

• Over 100 quizzes that counted for grades

• 205 question pools loaded

• Practice area that doesn’t count toward class grade

• Homework done on Bb is counted for 15% of the class grade.

Respondus

• www.respondus.com• Fantastic tool for managing Bb quizzes• Import questions from text files• Write questions• Use previous questions as basis for new

question• Publish to Bb• Print for written test

Respondus

• Easy to add graphics to questions• Has an equation editor• I do not save Bb course quizzes from

semester to semester because– Respondus jumbles the material on Bb in

such a way that’s it’s almost impossible to trace

– I keep changing and tailor what I put up for each class

Respondus

• 30 day free trial

• $79 for single copy

• Can be installed on home computer and office computer

• Great customer service from Respondus