MAXIMIZING INSTRUCTOR EFFICIENCY TO INCREASE ONLINE TEACHING CAPACITY

Back to Page Authors: David Gilstrap

Keywords: online, efficiency, capacity, teaching, repetition, instructions

Abstract: Beginning in the fall of 2019, Michigan State University instituted a new tuition policy so that students can take 12 to 18 credits per semester for a set fee. This created an immediate and dire need for increased teaching capacity. World of Turf, an elective course, is particularly helping fulfill this need. Over a ten-year period, its instructor developed and transformed the course from a traditional classroom to by far the largest online course at the university and its fourth third largest overall. Enrollment in the course reached almost 4000 students in 2019 with a 40% increase in course capacity in the first semester of the new tuition policy. Brightspace is the course-management software, and the instructor uses its tools to convey instructions in a repetitive manner to students in hopes that they will understand how to navigate the course without having to email the instructor with such questions. These tools includes announcements, widgets, intelligent agents, frequently asked questions, along with a getting started module that contains a comprehensive syllabus, course-introduction presentation, and list of do and don’ts. However, Brightspace is not designed with large classes in mind, so therefore in-house add-ons have had to be developed. While the instructor alone teaches the course, he is well aided by instructional technology personnel. Students interact via a series of forums in which they answer each other’s questions about the course and its content. These forums are monitored by a handful of undergraduate turf students who, in turn, note any discussion threads that may warrant the instructor’s engagement. The well-thought-out design and efficient administration of the course have resulted in a lessening number of emails from students to the instructor. Most of these involve a personal issue or how a particular exam question was graded. Due to maximized efficiency, the instructor has the time to deal with these in a fashion that hopefully makes the students feel that they are not part of such a large class, after all.