March 1, 2013

Lekelia (Kiki) Jenkins: Canvas and clickers…with a flip

Dr. Jenkins, an assistant professor in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at UW Seattle, uses a variety of technology tools, including the Canvas learning management system and portable response systems using ‘clickers’ to enhance her introductory course “Society and the Oceans” (SMEA/SIS/ENVIR 103).

Value of Canvas: Dr. Jenkins says she likes the Gradebook feature of Canvas because “it’s not too complicated.” Her students “know all the time where they are, what their grade is at that point in the quarter. It is super helpful.”

Clickers: “Using clickers is a way of keeping students engaged and making class more active. You can see that when they use them it causes a bit of a reboot, and they get more energy. I also use the clickers for my midterm and final review and that helps students see where they stand with the rest of the class. Also I can see, okay, for this particular lecture, students really don’t have a strong understanding of this concept or that concept, and that tells me I need to dig in more here.”

Flipping the classroom: “I don’t do basic content delivery in my classes. I think that’s really a waste of students’ time. They can sit down and read about and understand definitions and all of those things. The next step is: so what, who cares, and how does this change the way you operate in the world? It’s really just about giving content to the students ahead of class in such a way that they can do higher-level Bloom’s type learning objectives with it and apply that synthesis when they come to class.”

Advice: “Go to workshops! The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) hosts the Large Class Collegium at the beginning of each year. And what’s wonderful is you’re meeting other professors who are using these technologies at UW, and you’re hearing their pros and cons as opposed to the ideal. Because the reality and the ideal are different. People say if you do active learning then all of these fabulous things are going to happen — yes and no, you’re also going to hit roadblocks. So it is good to know in advance what the reality is, and to hear from someone else: how difficult was this, are you glad you did all of these things at the same time, what would you recommend? I think that’s invaluable for deciding which things you want to start with. And then go slowly.”

Links: Dr. Jenkins’ faculty web site

More information on Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Objectives (origin, 1956; revised 2000): “How to Create Course Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy” and “Bloom’s Taxonomy”

First IV: Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching. Dr. Jenkins has participated in this NSF-supported project, which seeks to reform and transform undergraduate biology education by training postdoctoral scholars in innovative and engaging active learning techniques

Learn More

Read the full Provost report on how UW faculty are enhancing teaching with technology.