April 2000 Issues in Education Internet Teaching: Interaction Without Inundation By Susan Sanchez The IT revolution has given OR faculty a great opportunity to reach students in new ways. However, we won't rise to the challenge unless we focus on our learning goals and the best means to achieve them, rather than simply using the new technology. Over the last several years I have used the Internet in various ways for teaching production, forecasting and statistics. In my experience, the web is as good or better than traditional classroom teaching for developing students' skills in problem formulation, modeling and communicating quantitative information. In addition, it can facilitate active learning where students are playing integral roles in learning, organizing and synthesizing the material. Active learning is associated with many desirable outcomes, including a deeper-level understanding of the material, a higher degree of critical thinking, better content retention and team skill development. Methods for promoting active learning run the gamut from short activities designed to break up a lecture-oriented class all the way to courses based entirely on cooperative student teams. With so much flexibility, instructors can easily find active learning techniques that complement their individual teaching styles. Whether you're adding a web component to an existing course, or planning a course that will be delivered largely over the web, web bulletin boards foster active learning by providing a mechanism for getting students to think about the material throughout the week. I summarize a news article every few days and ask a broad question (like "what's your opinion?"). By giving the students a chance to craft their response, I get contributions from people who might tend to stay quiet in a classroom. The discussion is richer, deeper, more constant and doesn't take away class time. Students also benefit from having to wrestle with problem formulation, modeling assumptions, data integrity and statistical ethics. They become more skilled at interpreting and communicating results effectively. This type of active discussion has benefits well beyond the web's function as an information repository that allows students to easily retrieve comments they may not have found relevant at first posting. Students who are at a commuter college, are working professionals, or are geographically disperse may find that the web is the best way for them to interact with the instructor and their peers. I require participation for a small part of the grade and clearly state what constitutes participation (in terms of content and timing) to avoid getting a spate of "me too!" comments late in the term. Rapid Feedback The importance of rapid feedback in an environment where students may not all be working on the same things at the same time can create difficulties. Many instructors have reported being swamped by e-mail the first time they teach a class with an online component. Instructors can alleviate this by developing a learning community among students. If they see themselves as members of a team, rather than competitors for a limited number of top grades, then student-to-student communication can replace much of the faculty-to-student communication. Since it is easier to get people to interact in a distance setting after informal ties have been established, instructors should try to have some face-to-face time at the beginning of the course for team-building exercises. I have successfully used content-based activities, such as role-playing illustrating difficulties in conducting interviews, game show simulations and small-group discussions about ethics in statistical experiments. Remember that the Internet can be less forgiving than face-to-face interaction. Non-responses or untimely responses are viewed unfavorably. Technology glitches and ambiguous instructions can lead to major headaches for the students. This means it's important to set expectations appropriately: be careful not to promise more than you can deliver. I use a tiered response system. My students know I'll respond within a day to administrative questions, but I let questions about sample problems sit for two days unless other students respond first. I contribute little to discussion boards other than wrap-ups at the end of the week. Fortunately, one no longer needs to be a webmaster to teach over the web. Web platforms like eRoom (www.instinctive.com) are flexible and easy to use. Most textbooks now come with supplementary material suitable for electronic distribution. The CHANCE site (www.dartmouth.edu/~chance) is a rich source of statistical discussion topics drawn from recent media articles. Companies like CyberGnostics (www.cyberk.com) have java applets to enhance web-based experiential learning, and INFORM-ED (www.bus.ualberta.ca/informed) has links to other teaching materials. This means you can spend your limited time directly on the value-added tasks: interacting with the students and adding "extras" that keep the material fresh and relevant. It's best to use a level of technology that you find comfortable and add one new thing each time you teach. The information superhighway is here - enjoy the ride! Susan M. Sanchez is an associate professor of Management Science at the University of Missouri - St. Louis (susan_sanchez@UMSL.edu). This is a regular column sponsored by INFORMED, the INFORMS Forum on Education. Contact Armann Ingolfsson at armann.ingolfsson@ualberta.ca Table of Contents OR/MS Today Home Page OR/MS Today copyright © 2000 by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. All rights reserved. Lionheart Publishing, Inc. 506 Roswell Street, Suite 220, Marietta, GA 30060, USA Phone: 770-431-0867 | Fax: 770-432-6969 E-mail: lpi@lionhrtpub.com URL: http://www.lionhrtpub.com Web Site © Copyright 1999, 2000 by Lionheart Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.