Talk:Undergraduate Research Projects

-- Cpcampbell88 (talk) 17:22, 23 November 2014 (EST)

Hi Anne,

Looks like you're off to a great start! I find your topic interesting and useful. I like the organized format that you provide for the reader/student of your course. I like the visuals that you have included as well, interesting way to present the research data. I am wondering, where will the students participate in the discussion? I would like to incorporate discussions as well so I am looking for suggestions.

Looking forward to seeing your course develop! Catherine

Hi Catherine -

Thanks for your feedback! I'm going to have students use the discussion tab for their posts. Clearly I need to be more clear about this in my course materials. Thanks for pointing this out!!

Anne

Chris' Feedback -- Chdcheung (talk) 13:42, 24 November 2014 (EST)

Hi Anne,

Overall, I really like your introduction page. I think the graphic is really helpful and provides some great statistics about research habits for college students. Your introduction is well written and I really like the rhetorical questions because it forces your students to think about their current practices as they progress through the course.

I think the overall layout is great as well. I like that the unit links are large and stand out. This helps avoid some confusion as to how to get started. In my mini course, I explicitly wrote "Click here for..." but this approach works well also!

In Unit 1, I really liked that you outlined exactly what your students are expected to do. This "to-do" list acts like a checklist that they must complete before they move onto the next Unit. I also liked that you gave your students direction on what to pay attention to in the videos. You mentioned this in my feedback and I am going to use that information to improve my course.

In Unit 1's Introduction, the header is misspelled, but that's a quick fix. Another suggestion is to have an "activity" or "do" heading, that way all the assignments your students have to complete are in one place. Dr. Zhang has something like this in each module of our course on Blackboard, and I have found that, that is very helpful to keep me on track.

I look forward to seeing this course progress!

-Chris

Hi Chris -

Sorry, I just realized that I didn't thank you for your feedback - I really appreciate it! I"m not sure where things were when you reviewed the course but I've added headings - Introduction, Engage, Apply, Reflect. I"m not sure if these address the issue you identified? If you get a chance let me know.

Anne

Chris' Response

Hi Anne,

Those headings are exactly what I was talking about. I took a similar approach in my mini course, and I really like the way it looks. It lets the student know exactly what they need to do, in a clear and concise manner.

-Chris

Additional Feedback

Hi Anne,

Your course is coming along really well! I really like the case studies that you included in Unit 1 and Unit 2. That's a great way to introduce that Unit's topic and to get people to think about the information you've presented.

From an aesthetic point of view, the course is very easy to read, and I like the stars you used for "tips" on the course homepage. I also like the use of the word cloud in your first unit. It catches my eye and the explanation you gave afterwards really helped me understand it.

This isn't necessarily a problem, and if you've done it on purpose, then please ignore this part. The reflection questions for the first unit are very general. Although this isn't necessarily a bad thing, I think you could word the questions about a particular aspect of research to get more in-depth answers.

Overall the course is looking really good! I hope my feedback is helpful!

instructor comment on your mini-course -- Jianwei Zhang (talk) 13:52, 1 December 2014 (EST)

Hi Anne,

I've been very impressed by this professionally designed mini-course! The course implements your curriculum map well to address the objectives clearly identified and sequenced. Your use of case studies and reflections helps to engage the learners' interest and deepening thinking. The activities in each unit form into a nice flow to address the unit objectives. Great work!

One thing you can refine: For each long piece of reading assigned, give a highlight of its key message or a driving question to show the purpose. This will engage the learner's reading/thinking.