The presentation will describe the transformation of Psychology 221, a large introductory level course, using funds provided by the Curriculum Transformation Project. We have been successful in enlarging the writing and critical thinking components of the course, while at the same time reducing the graduate student teaching demands. We believe that the transformation provides a model for transformations of other large courses.

ANSC 212: Applied Animal Physiology is a F2F course required in the curriculum that has enrollment of 50-70 students and has been supplemented with learning objectives facilitated by course management software for more than 10 years. To encourage student completion of required reading prior to lecture, students must pass an open-book on-line quiz in ELMS based on the required reading to obtain a PDF file of the PowerPoint handout prior to the lecture. To develop student understanding of peer-reviewed research literature and the role it plays in news media coverage of science and to develop critical thinking ability students are encourage to use the ELMS Discussion Board feature to post links to related news and research article items and to then write an interpretive summary of the items that critically evaluates whether the news item is supported by the points in the research article. Undergraduates seem to spend more time using social media software, especially those designed with mobile computing platform capabilities, than they do with course management software like ELMS. Facebook (FB) is a example of social media software popular with undergraduates. One reason for FB's popularity is the ease of user customization and third-party software development of applications. One of those applications is 'courses', and a 'course' for ANSC 212 has been developed. Not intended to compete with ELMS, the FB course was established to facilitate organization of study groups among students and their operation/function.

I will present my experience with the Global Simulation system in my language classes. I used it at the intermediate level for composition classes and it was always a great success. The global simulation system requires the students to create a identity (in this case French) in order to build an entire world (from job to family) based in the targeted country. The instructor choose a city in France and the whole class virtually "live" in it for the semester. Therefore, all the material and references are authentic. The process allows students to be creative and coherent within their "new" world. The Discussion Board in ELMS (powered by Blackboard) is an excellent place for all the students to post announcements, letters, requests about their life in the building we all live in. Moreover, I would like to stretch the importance of the choice of the city. Indeed, the French Department has two programs based in Nice and Montpellier, two Southern French cities, and using the global simulation system in one of two towns would greatly prepare the students who want to study abroad.

Creating and implementing an effective, team leadership activity for a large lecture section is a daunting task. This challenge was carried out in BMGT364, Management & Organization Theory, through the use of a Web-based simulation developed by Michael A. Roberto and Amy C. Edmondson (Harvard Business Press). “Everest – Leadership and Teams Simulation” places five to six students in a group, each taking on a different role in a team attempting to summit Mount Everest. In order to do so, each member in the group must effectively communicate information that others may or may not have, including weather, health, hiking speed, oxygen, among other necessary information. This simulation tested the students’ ability in effectively leading and participating in a team setting, overcoming information asymmetries, and weighing personal task completion versus team effectiveness. Implementation of this technology into the classroom will be discussed, along with problems encountered during its administration. Included in this discussion will be how students prepared for the simulation, how their performances were evaluated, and the management of time constraints. The effectiveness of the simulation will also be explored, with the use of a reflection piece written by each student group serving as the support. These accounts will show how students viewed their team synergies and process losses, how well they were able to compromise personal and team task completion, and most importantly how group leaders were able to adapt to interest asymmetry and provide psychological safety.

Computer games and simulations are becoming more realistic and sophisticated. Our students come to us, in many cases, with significant gaming experience. In the realm of business, popular games like Roller Coaster Tycoon and, to some extent, Sim City, provide realistic elements of running businesses, and our students want more. Luckily, academic computer simulations have also kept pace—gaining in sophistication and realism—while also being based on leading edge theories and research on effective business practices. Thus, a computer simulation provides an ideal learning environment that is both educationally sound and fun for students. In this presentation, I will discuss the pros and cons of using computer simulations based on my experience teaching the honors section of the capstone Business Policy course with the Capstone simulation from Capsim. In this virtual world, teams of students compete against each other over an 8 year time horizon, making decisions in R&D, Production, Marketing, Finance, TQM/Sustainability, and Human Resources. They are judged against a balanced scorecard of metrics representing the outcomes expected by key stakeholders of a high technology company (in this case, the sensor industry). Some of the benefits of a computer simulation include: application of analytical models learned throughout the business school curriculum, practice of teamwork and leadership skills, development of complex decision making skills in a safe environment, and engaged, student-focused learning.

Two sections of a core course in a graduate professional program, one online and the other in a traditional classroom, were compared from both student and faculty member perspectives, using two methods. The first method used a learning-focused feedback tool called SALG (Student Assessment of their Learning Gains, http://www.salgsite.org/about). Developed with NSF funding, SALG is a well-established tool that asks students to rate how certain components of a course (e.g., course materials, collaborative work, and assignments) helped them to learn, understand concepts, and master skills, affected their enthusiasm for the course or subject area, and moved them toward achieving the course goals. For this study, SALG was customized for the specific learning goals of the course. The second assessment, from the faculty perspective, was to compare students performance on the final essay exam that was the same for the two sections. In addition to the instructors, an outside evaluator independently graded the assignments. The study goals were to demonstrate whether or not method of delivery (online vs. classroom) makes a difference in learning and to use the findings to improve teaching by modifying current practices. The SALG results and the final exam grades were compared to see whether there are group differences tied to the delivery mode. One finding was that online class members were generally more confident of their understanding and skills at the beginning of the class, but felt that they made fewer gains in these areas over the semester. Face-to-face students started out more enthusiastic about the subject of the course and made greater gains in enthusiasm. Nevertheless, students in the two classes generally came out at about the same level of understanding and skills as measured by the final exam.

CTE collaborated with the Office of Information Technology in summer 2008 to host its second summer institute during which 10 members of the faculty developed uses of newer technologies in their undergraduate courses. Applicants submitted proposals to implement an instructional technology. Over three days, CTE, OIT, and expert users of blogs, wikis, clickers, ELMS, and other technologies offered introductions to the pedagogical values (and limitations) of each, and participants refined their adoptions of a selected tool. During the 2008-2009 year, participants have made at least one of these tools part of their undergraduate courses. In this roundtable session several institute participants will showcase their projects, discuss their experiences, and offer recommendations on future implementations of technologies available to all faculty at the University of Maryland.