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Funnel: Detailed Overview

Funnel strategy using Canvas

This strategy uses the capabilities of Canvas to prepare students to excel in physical course meetings either in a traditional two day a week schedule or in once a week hybrid format. Students who are unprepared complicate physical class meetings. If students have not done the required reading or preparation work to contribute to dialogic lecturing, discussion, and activities negatively impact classroom dynamics. Moreover, it allows instructors to set a pace for students to keep them from waiting to the last minute to complete work. This is done using a variety of tools used separately or in concert.

  • Quizzes
  • Structured Discussion
  • Workshops
  • Automated Peer review

The Humble Quiz

There are a variety of pedagogical uses for quizzes or tests. In this example, the purpose of the quiz is to motivate students to complete required readings by a certain date. A basic online multiple-choice quiz is great motivator for students to read required materials. Once a quiz is set-up, it runs automatically. Quizzes can also form an automated baseline for points in the course.

Once a quiz question bank is constructed, a quiz is created to access those questions. Quiz capabilities include:

  • Timed: this limits the ability to look up answers
  • Set for specific start and end dates
  • Extending times for DRC access students
  • Multiple attempts for individual or all students.
  • Questions are pulled randomly from a pool
  • The order of questions are randomized
  • Scores are automatically entered into the grade book
  • Are fully tracked and viewable by the instructor.
  • 24/7 access for students

In a funnel strategy, a quiz on required readings would close prior the class meeting in which the reading are required. Quiz points can be minimal, for example 15 points for a 15 questions quiz. Even at that rate the conceptual pressure on completing this type of assessment means there is high compliance. In my courses, I open all quizzes at the beginning of the term and close them as we cover the materials, an idea suggested by a student who wanted to work ahead.

Of course, an online quiz that can be taken at any time from anywhere means it would be open book or note. I have used these quizzes in dozens of courses and scores vary as much as a traditional paper in class quiz. However, it also means that students would be able to take quizzes in teams and look up answers. Realistically there is no way to prevent this, although few students appear to take the time to coordinate. I had student plainly tell me in a course that five of them would get together to take the quizzes. At first I was angry, but then I realized that getting 5 students to meet outside of class about course content was a good result in and of themselves. Moreover, that instead of each student taking one quiz, the each took the quiz 5 times! They came in contact with those questions and looked up those answers on specific and important course content multiple times. They would know the material and that seemed like a good outcome to me. Quizzes are also effective when paired with structured discussion.

Structured Discussion

Using a discussion board on Canvas brings in four benefits to students understanding course material. The first is that they get to apply course concepts. The second is that students are very peer conscious and are loath to under-perform to their peers, since everyone can see their posts. Third, unlike in class discussion, there is time and space for everyone to speak and respond. No one is interrupted and no one can monopolize the time.  Finally, it allows students to interact and build relationships in a safe and low stress environment. For instructors, it allows for selective interaction to address specific questions or praise insightful comments, to focus students on particular prompts, and it makes discussion easy to grade especially using the speedgrader function.

Discussion capabilities include:

  • Set for specific start and end dates
    • Embed links and media including instant video
    • Easily identify participants
    • Easy to grade with feedback and automatically enter in gradebook
    • Can also grade simply by button click (credit/no credit or meet basic parameters)
    • Obviously, for ELL/ESL students who may have better writing than speaking skills or DRC students who may have speaking impediments, it is can be a great outlet.

A structured discussion can be constructed to meet specific instructional goals. Again, for my purposes, discussion is the next step in understanding the readings. In this step they need to be able to apply and/or think about the content and discuss it with peers. Here is an example of how I use structured discussion in a hybrid course that meets on Thursdays at noon. Since “noon” is when they come to class I use it as a deadline. It could just as easily be midnight. So the schedule is based on prep period of Monday to Thursday when the class meets. Again, this discussion must be completed prior to coming to class.

Tuesday at noon: students post a reading review of the material. This also functions as a collective study guide for the quizzes. The reading review consists of 4 items they find important and 4 items they find interesting and the reason why.  Thus giving them a framework to this about the material in terms of interest and importance.

Wednesday at noon: a reply to the content of another students reading review post. So, interaction based on course content.

Thursday at noon: final reply post.

I also offer nominal extra credit is the reading review is posted by Monday.

 

Assignment Discussion

Another strategy for using a discussion board is to provide a space where students can discuss other assignments such as papers or research projects. The structured opportunity for students to work out their ideas, ask questions of peers, process anxiety, and address complex problems can greatly improve understanding, satisfaction, and the quality of submitted work. More experienced/engaged peers can greatly increase comprehension. Students state they find this exercise to be very helpful in comprehension and reducing stress. It also encourages students to, at the very least, start thinking about an assignment ahead of its due date. It also provides instructors a window into student perspectives and process and allows for early intervention in students misunderstanding instructions or the purpose/conceptual frame of an assignment. Moreover, it can be a useful diagnostic tool for assignment design and display. The role of social support by both peers and the instructor cannot be underestimated. It is less confusing if an instructor uses the same basic schedule as other structured discussion such as described above. In that case, I require a primary post on major issues, concerns, or tips and two replies to others posts. Quite often students post more than is required.

Finally, discussion boards can be used as a more complex and detailed “ice breaker” at the start of the term. For example, offering extra credit for introducing themselves and responding to a peer’s introduction. This is particularly useful in hybrid courses with limited physical meeting times. Also, at the end of the term it can provide a forum for processing the course and providing suggestions for improvement. For example, I ask students to provide 3 things they liked about the course, and three things they did not like or ideas for improving it, and a piece of advice for future students. I take selected advice and include it in my future courses (usually as part of an orientation workshop) as peers take each others’ advice more seriously then an instructors!

In a funnel strategy, structured discussion allows for students to interact with course material and each other in a very methodical, but dynamic way. I regularly poll my students and the discussion board is one of the most liked aspects of either online or hybrid courses. Having discussed the readings prior to the class meeting means they have not only done the readings, but also had to think constructively about them. This allows for higher order discussion of the material in class. Combined with quizzes, this provides the third pass at course materials. They would have to have read, discussed, and been quizzed before they even set foot in a class. Moreover, discussing assignments and projects online is a way to address questions and issues in a more thoughtful manner and often eliminates long, drawn out reviews of instruction minutiae.

Of course students find a variety of ways to thwart structured discussion, so based on experience it is useful to apply some basic rules:

  • All posts must be 12 hours apart. This ensures students don’t just show up once, data dump, and go.
  • All posts must be 150 words minimum.

 

Workshops

I use workshops, simply content that students have to apply to a task in the form of a webpage or slides in research method, theory/topic, and practice skills courses. Workshops in this format provide an opportunity for students to do the basic work needed to tackle more advanced activities or discussions in class.  Workshops can be set up as assignments in Canvas. Assignments capabilities include:

  • Set open and close dates
  • In textbox, url, multimedia, or specific attached files types (restricted as needed)
  • Rubrics and Speedgrader that allows viewing of almost all file types in frame and the ability to make comments, attach a score, and automatically transfer grades into gradebook.
  • Allows students to engage in conversations over submissions.

Here are three different examples of how I use workshops in different courses.

Research methods courses demand the use of certain research methods or related research skills. Workshops allow students to try and use these methods/techniques and then bring that experience into class for discussion or to compare experiences or perhaps to take their work to a higher level. For example, I have students attempt to code data based on their email accounts. They then come to class and compare how they did and in small groups see if their combined findings yield any interesting patterns.

Theory or topic courses demand a deeper understanding of what theory is and how it is applied to specific instances/examples. Usually, I create a workshop that looks at one or more theories and have them apply it to cases, current events, or their own experiences. Students can discuss or compare findings in groups and report out or I have had groups in charge of running the class discussion.

In a skills or practice course, workshops can provide and opportunity to try a skill before coming to a class session and completing exercises or activities. For example, I have had students create and conduct short interviews to practice that skill. In class, we discuss the challenges and lessons learned, and then they practice again in class activities

In a funnel strategy, workshops provide a way for students to test drive different skills, processes or ideas prior to coming to class. These provide a common knowledge or experience base for the class meeting. Often students do not even know what questions to ask until they have tried to make something work. The experience allows for more productive repetition or higher-level tasks/discussions.

 

Peer Review

I had never been a fan of peer review for student assignments. I found the logistical hurdles and the quality of feedback was not worth the effort. However, once I started teaching 100w and found the ease of using the Canvas peer review function, I am a convert. I find that, broadly, peer review reduces basic and annoying technical errors as well as misunderstanding of directions. For example, using scholarly sources. This can really improve the quality of submitted work and reduce grading time. Peers tend to be very concerned on how they are perceived by fellow students and often put more effort into work they know their peers are seeing. I was honestly amazed at the reduction of basic technical errors. A caveat is that, overall, students are loath to be critical of each other when points or grades are involved. I suggest making peer review assignment credit/no credit.

Some basic instruction in how to review a particular assignment type is highly recommended. Canvas provides a rubric function than can guide students to focus on particular issues.

In Canvas, students can upload assignment and those assignments can be can randomly assigned to peers for review. Students can be assigned any number of peer reviews. At a minimum, instructors should assign two papers for each student to account for non-compliance and ensure every student benefits from the process. Peer review trains students to create initial drafts of a paper instead of just one draft (at the last minute) for submission.

In a funnel strategy, peer review can reduce the number of basic questions on assignments during physical class meetings and allow for higher-level discussion. Students essentially have completed an early preliminary draft that receives feedback with little or no instructor input. Often students do not even know what questions to ask or potential issues with an assignment until they actually try to execute them. This makes in class discussion or review of assignments more focused and productive because the students have something concrete on which to fix ideas. A solid context for their questions/concerns.