Educative Assessment through Online Collaborative Writing

ALOR Project

Rosa HongSimone Laughton

June 9, 2014IT Seminar Series

Department of Language StudiesInstructional TechnologyUniversity of Toronto Mississauga LibraryRobert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre

History• Beginning • MTCU, CTSI, OLS• Funding • ALOR• Conditions• Blueprint

Active Learning: Active Learning instructional strategies can be created and used to engage students in (a) thinking critically or creatively, (b) speaking with a partner, in a small group, or with the entire class, (c) expressing ideas through writing, (d) exploring personal attitudes and values, (e) giving and receiving feedback, and (f) reflecting upon the learning process. (Eison, Using Active Learning Instructional Strategies to Create Excitement and Enhance Learning, 2010) Effective set of Active Learning activities is one that includes information/ideas, experience and reflective dialogue. (Fink, 2003)

ALOR Project “An interesting new interdisciplinary project that aims to improve the quality of student learning through design of active learning experiences, while maximizing efficiencies through the use of web-based tools.”

ALOR’s Objectives

ALOR Projects • University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) – Department of Psychology

- Prof. Steve Joordens: Enhancements to peerScholar, mTuner and Digital LabCoat tools; new course pilots

• University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) – Language Studies- Prof. Rosa Hong: Active learning and media integration activities to contextualize language learning – Michelle Troberg – Videos clips creation

• Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering (FASE) – Materials Science- Prof. Scott Ramsay: reusable digital resources to support student learning through videos, demonstration on tablet, etc.

• Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing – MN – Health Systems

Leadership and Administration Program- Prof. Margaret Blastorah: Develop pilot hybrid/online component strategies for the MN/MHSc program

• Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS) – Human Biology Program

- Prof. Franco Taverna: Mapping of neuroscience learning concepts to improve curriculum design

ALOR projects – UTM, Department of Language Studies

• 1) Michelle Troberg – Camtasia Videos for LIN100 Bringing Course Concepts into Focus using Videos

• 2) Rosa Hong – –Online Collaborative Writing for FSL466 : Advanced Writing: Language of Business–Audio File Recording for FSL 205 Functional French III

• 3) Online Teaching and Learning Centre – Promotional webpage - Drupal

Project Objectives for Online Collaborative Writing - FSL466 Advanced Writing: Language of Business

• Innovation• Productivity

• Active Learning• Scalability• Reusability• Shareability

• French as a Second Language• Business French Writing • From Transmission to Transformation• Comprehensive learning experience

Online Collaborative Writing Project (OCWP) FSL466: Advanced Writing – Language of Business

Situational factors (Dee Fink, 2003) Course description on Calendar

“A study of vocabulary, grammar and writing techniques involved in business situations.”

Students - 3rd-4th years – Major, Minor or Specialist, Higher language level, max. enrolment 50

Course evaluation Written work including (1) CV + cover letter, (2) individual reflection writings, (3) group assignments, (4) homework (comprehension questionnaires on videos and reading comprehension), and (5) in-class handouts, 2. 2 tests including final test (25%), 3. Oral presentation and script (company profile and job offer) , 4. PPP, 5. Portfolio including ALL course handouts, lecture notes, written feedbacks, revised work, tests and solution, reading materials, evaluation rubrics, etc.

Project-based course–1 hour lecture on vocabulary, grammar, writing techniques and stylistics devices–2 hours practice on 10 weeks-long class project, reading comprehension tasks, writing assignments, individual and group activities, reflections on learning experiences

ALOR - OCWP• FSL466 Class Project (handout #1)• Definition:

Working individually and collaboratively, students write, edit, self- and peer-evaluate to perfect business writing assignments using online tools, Wiki page and Blog, to simulate authentic working environments

• Learning Objectives: (handout #2)1.Collaborative writing using online learning tools2.Improving writing skills in French and Mastery of Business French3.Self-Assessment and Peer-Evaluation skills4.Authentic Workplace experience5.Hidden Agenda: Transformative learning experience, Comprehensive (holistic) learning experience, French Instruction, avant tout!

Educative Assessment: Four primary components (handout #1)

1) Forward-Looking Assessment (citations #1, #2)

2) Criteria and Standards3) Self-Assessment (citation #3, #4)

4) “FIDeLity” feedback (citation #5)

ALOR-OCWP (handout # 2 and # 3)

Principle & Process

I. Pre-project activities: (handout #2 and #3)1)Lectures on vocabulary related to business sectors, activities, etc.2)Reading comprehension exercise on 2 samples articles on L’Oréal and P&G3)Analytical reading on sample job offers (student selected) and reflection writing on group discussion (what makes one job offer better than the others, language, readability, seduction factor, text organization, etc.)

I-1, 2, 3

II-1, 2

II-3, 4

II – 4, III -1

II-5, III-1,3

OCWP (handout # 3 and #4)

II. Project Activity1) Online Collaborative Writing (draft editing)2) Peer-Evaluation (in group)3) Feedback Analysis (handout #1 – citation #4) 4) Reflective Writing

III. Post-project activity 1) Revision of the written work2) Oral Presentation 3) Survey on ALOR

OCWP Samples

Project Objectives for OCWP

• Innovation• Productivity

• Active Learning• Scalability• Reusability• Shareability

• French as a Second Language• Business French Writing • From Transmission to

Transformation• Comprehensive learning experience

ALOR/OCWP SurveyA. strongly agreed B. agreed C. agreed with changes/modifications D. disagreed

1. Collaborative writing on Wiki page was useful in my language learningA – 14 (39%) B – 15 (42%) C – 7 (19%) D – 0

2. Group collaboration on the Blackboard site is an efficient way to learn language. A – 16 (44%) B – 15 (42%) C – 4 (11%) D – 1 (3%)

3. Evaluative comments and their integration helped me to improve French writing skills A – 15 (42%) B – 16 (44%) C – 5 (14%) D – 0

4. Use of technologies – Wiki page, Blog, online learning tools – was beneficial in language learning

A – 18 (50%) B – 16 (44%) C – 2 (6%) D – 0

ALOR-OCWP: Survey comments Describe briefly your experience of collaborative writing •It was successful. We taught reciprocally and worked efficiently. •Use of Wiki page facilitated communication – worked together while staying home •The project was very good and fun. I learned to create company profile and it was the first time that I considered hiring process from the company’s point of view•This experience was very good because it gave me an opportunity to work in team and learn things useful after my graduation •Learned to work in team, in times we had opposite ideas but we learned to negotiate •It was helpful that modification was immediate •Working in group for greater diversity in ideas •I appreciated collaborating with my group members as it’s not often used in my other language courses. Discussing with them gave me an idea on their personality and allowed me to get them know better •A nice, fun and productive experience. •I loved the collaborative writing because it allowed me to see and understand other people’s idea and opinions. •Collaboration – one member did not participate and we had to learn to deal with uncooperative team member.

ALOR-OCWP: Survey comments Which part was the most interesting (in collaborative writing) •Correction in group (1) - if I were alone, I wouldn’t have seen mistakes •Planning (10) – each members had different and unique ideas•I really liked and appreciated the planning process because we were very organized. •Organization of tasks and writing. Wiki allowed us to distribute tasks and exchange ideas (3) •Peer-Evaluation (2) •Creation of the company (Project) that required creativity and planning•Oral presentation •Collaborative writing (4) – the most collaborative and most fun. •Being able to see others’ work online •All stages were (planning, discussion, writing, presentation) interesting especially as we got along very well most of time. •It was interesting to see how much seeing our mistakes and suggestions could improve the final result.

ALOR-OCWP: Survey comments What did you learn from reading other students’ assignments•How to find errors – by recognizing other students’ errors, I learned to find mine. •Allowed us to perfect our own writing •Some ideas are different but most of them were similar•I was impressed by my classmates’ work. They had each different writing styles and all written work was interesting. •Different level of writing – some used “Google Translator” •Appreciated other groups’ work•Other students were hard-working and added details such as logos •They put a lot of efforts and did extensive research on the real companies •Reading other students’ work gave me ideas on how to improve my writing and it was interesting to see the way that other groups represented their offer •It impressed me to see that many students used professional-level terminologies

ALOR-OCWP: Survey comments

Describe the way in which you integrated evaluators’ comments/suggestions in your assignment. Propose examples. •Used comments to correct our own assignment (8) •Avoid repetition and use of synonyms •No (2) - comments were incorrect •Better incorporation of studied materials •We discussed extensively what the evaluator would have commented in such manner •We had a group discussion on which comments to integrate: spelling mistakes and word meaning.•We took time to re-write our work according to the evaluative comments and we realized that they were right. We modified our work based on their suggestions.

Adaptation: Redesign the project for your course(s)(handout #3)

Thank you!j.hong@utoronto.ca

What you liked in my OCWP What/How you can take to your course

Scaffolded Learning

Collaborative writing

Setting Learning Outcomes

Evaluation