Designing Active Learning Activities for On-line and Emerging Technology: A Report on Student’s Perceptions of the Activities and Activity Refinement

The authors of this paper have been designing, with student input, appropriate active learning techniques for online use as well as for use with new and evolving technologies. These instructional activities are largely collaborative in nature and are based on classic active learning strategies, as suggested in the research literature for face-‐to-‐face instruction. This paper discusses the implementation of active learning strategies designed or adapted for online and hybrid classrooms, modified to employ emerging collaborative technology as well as the use of technologies not available earlier for the purpose of teaching technical graphics concepts. Activities for this ongoing study were selected from analyses of best practices identified in the research literature on both active learning and virtual learning. This paper is a continuation of a previous exploratory study and paper that discussed preliminary results. This paper discusses the refinements made to these activities following initial attempts to use them with students in both face-‐to-‐ face and online settings as well as findings based on a variety of feedback data. Data sources used to refine instructional design included student surveys; discussion forum posts; project rubric analyses; peer, self, and instructor assessment data; and instructor observations. This report represents the research team’s second phase of exploration of active learning strategies in an hybrid and online environment and using emerging technologies. Phase one piloted the initial design of strategies that were untested and untried. The piloting of these activities allowed the team to identify weaknesses in the available technology for collaboratively developing digital technical graphics as well as the instructional presentation and implementation strategies employed when using them.