Student Rank:

• Freshman (Fall & Spring semesters)

 

Course Focus:

• Required liberal arts freshman course

  • Select (choice) topic being offered

  • Required research component

• Dual focus:

  • Nutrition

  • Being an effective student

 

UDLI Strategies Utilized:

• Team/collaborative projects

• Learner-centered

  • Choice

  • Authentic/personalized learning experiences

• Experiential Learning & UDLI

• Integration of technology (course management system [CMS], discussion boards, E-Portfolios, infographs, Google docs, Powerpoint, Prezi, Youtube, weblinks, radio podcasts, video, Adobe Photoshop,etc.)

  • Provided tablets for in-class use/encouraged use of own electronic devices (laptops, tablets, phones)

• Team work & collaboration

  • Class meetings were projects, assignments, discussions, group analyses, etc.

• Provided guides & examples of assignments for greater clarity

 

Examples of Student Work:

• Food Labels

• E-Portfolios

• Other Assignments

 

Student Feedback/Reviews:

• Strengths:

  • On-line course information was very helpful

  • Majority rated course as challenging/difficult

  • Extensive research & library use required

    • First time ever required to justify/verify opinions & perspectives

  • Responses indicated higher-level cognitive functioning (critical analysis, synthesis, differentiation, etc.)

    • Learned to be an intelligent skeptic

  • Using technology allowed options

  • Choice empowered customization & flexibility

  • Authentic learning (Nutrition plan analysis/research)

  • Learned a lot about self

    • Many indicate they will continue most/all of the strategies they learned beyond the course

  • Health improvements/gains

  • 24/7 access to course & assignments

  • Engaged entire class via questioning & activities

  • Group work/collaboration

  • Needed multiple skills

  • Relevance

• Concerns:

  • Less overlapping assignments

  • Choice appears to suggest a lack of course/instructor organization

  • Course webpage can be overwhelming

  • No lecturing or tests (wanted this)

  • Needed multiple skills

  • Too much work/too many assignments

  • More structure

  • Degree of challenge too high

 

On-going Strategies to Enhance Course & Student Learning:

• Educating students because course design & facilitation is different

  • Periodically review purpose of course design

  • Always seek perspectives of the purpose of course tasks & assignments

  • Reviewing rubrics & using rubrics

• Use prompts & reminders

• Revise, add to & modify course webpage (CMS)