{"id":10228,"date":"2021-08-09T09:49:53","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T13:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notes.math.ca\/article\/supporting-community-and-communication-through-online-learning-journals\/"},"modified":"2021-08-24T07:29:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T11:29:56","slug":"supporting-community-and-communication-through-online-learning-journals","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/notes.math.ca\/fr\/article\/supporting-community-and-communication-through-online-learning-journals\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Community and Communication through Online Learning Journals"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Les Notes p\u00e9dagogiques pr\u00e9sentent des sujets math\u00e9matiques et des articles sur l’\u00e9ducation aux lecteurs de la SMC dans un format qui favorise les discussions sur diff\u00e9rents th\u00e8mes, dont la recherche, les activit\u00e9s les enjeux et les nouvelles d’int\u00e9r\u00eat pour les math\u00e9maticien.ne.s. Vos commentaires, suggestions et propositions sont les bienvenues.<\/i><\/p>

John McLoughlin,\u00a0<\/strong>University of New Brunswich (johngm@unb.ca<\/a>)<\/em>
Kseniya Garaschuk,\u00a0<\/strong>University of Fraser Valley (kseniya.garaschuk@ufv.ca<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our motivation and goals<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and magnified issues that have always been present in our classrooms: student course preparedness, the flexibility of students\u2019 study habits, and the ability to self-assess and reflect on course content and effectiveness of their learning, among others. One of the most prominent concerns of students in the remote environment has been self-regulation, time management and falling behind on their coursework [1<\/a>, 2<\/a>]; after all, if the lectures are recorded, it is easy to procrastinate engaging with the material. Once behind, the priority becomes catching up with the material, as opposed to cultivating deep understanding. The shortage of student collaboration — more present in live courses during in-class group work and outside of class time in informal study groups — also results in fewer opportunities for students to see each others\u2019 work, witness and discuss varying viewpoints. On the other hand, more structured and deliberate instructor-student online interactions lower the frequency and effectiveness of communication [3<\/a>]. This affects the feedback loop for both parties involved: students get less input from the instructor regarding their progress, while the instructor gets less of an insight into students\u2019 process of learning and points of struggle. In our experience, students have few opportunities to reflect on their knowledge during the course of the semester, so as instructors we would like to implement more qualitative assessments for students to see the course as a whole and not just the sum of its parts.<\/span><\/p>

Undergraduate curricula can be jam-packed with content and \u201cdoing\u201d: homework, quizzes, projects, and tests where students are (sometimes mindlessly) working through problem after problem. As instructors, we hope that our students have an appreciation for what they learn each week and why that content is important, but recognize that we may not provide assessments and reflection opportunities that align with this learning outcome. To this end, many institutions are now including affective outcomes<\/em> in their course outlines, such as, \u201cadvocate for the value of *topic* in *context*\u201d. In their curriculum guidelines for undergraduate courses, the Mathematical Association of America suggests \u201cmathematics faculty should deliver an unambiguous message concerning the importance of mathematical reasoning and communication skills and adopt instructional methods and curriculum content that develop these skills\u201d [4<\/a>]. Large scale, high-stakes projects that come at the end of a course have the potential to fit this bill, but are generally not intended for the gradual development of communication skills throughout the course of a semester.\u00a0 Ask yourself: do you have purposeful opportunities for your students to sit back and consider what was being done, why they did it, and what they learned (or didn\u2019t) throughout your course?<\/span><\/p>

We present the idea of learning journals<\/em> as a low-stakes, small-scale assessment for learning, which provides students a regular space to sit down and reflect on the simple question of \u201cwhat did I do this week?\u201d The structure of these online journals provide a virtual space for students to communicate with each other, answer each other\u2019s questions, and gain an alternative understanding of the content, as described by their peers. The journals also allow the instructor an insight into student processes, as well as the depth and richness of students\u2019 understanding beyond being able to carry out calculations or problem solve.<\/span><\/p>

The What, How, and Why of Learning Journals<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>

The learning journals used in our courses were done on a bi-weekly basis. The Learning Management System (LMS) at our institution is Blackboard, so we took advantage of the \u201cBlogs\u201d course tool built into the LMS. In creating these blogs, we chose the \u201ccourse blog\u201d option that allowed all students to view and comment on the posts of their peers.<\/span><\/p>

The learning journals were employed in five distinct courses: Calculus I for Business, Calculus II for Life Sciences, Calculus II for Physical Sciences, Calculus III, and second-year Linear Algebra. Our courses varied in format (from fully asynchronous to virtual \u201cflipped\u201d), but the primary course content was always presented in pre-recorded videos scheduled for students to watch each week. Students were instructed to not write their learning journal until after they had watched all lecture videos and completed the associated homework assignment. As such, the learning journal was always due after the associated homework for the week\u2019s content was due. For example, the learning journal for weeks 2 and 3 would be due on the Saturday of week 4. This deadline is fundamental to the learning journal idea; the intent of these journals is to provide a space for students to regularly reflect on their learning process, so this deadline was integrated into their weekly \u201cto-do\u2019s\u201d.<\/span><\/p>

Each learning journal included the following instructions and rubric (credit and thanks to Cindy Blois (UofT) for her communication rubric).<\/span><\/p>

Write between 400-500 words summarizing what you learned these past two weeks. The goal is to synthesize the content and your learning from this week. To help guide your writing, please respond to the following questions, with your peers being your target audience:<\/span><\/p>