UMM "Gang of Five"

Project Group Title: Basic Student-Centered Course Webpages

Project Leader: Christopher Cole

 

Summary of Project Goals:

The goal of this group is for you to get the most useful result for your time spent developing a website for your courses. Like most faculty, you probably do not have a lot of time to put into website design-- so how do you get started, and how do you make your efforts pay off best for your students? Especially if you only have a few hours to spend on the project?

First, in the fall you'll find out what your students most want in your website, and evaluate some other course websites in light of the student comments. Then you'll make your own website, preparing it for your spring courses. After the courses get going, you'll find out how it's working, and how it needs improvement, and adjust it accordingly.

We'll assume no more expertise than basic word processing and some time playing around with the web. Some of this will involve working on a tutorial basis: in your office, with your materials. Other times the group will meet to exchange ideas, information, and feedback. The software tools you use will be up to you, though you'll probably want to use Dreamweaver, and we'll show you how.

 

What Students Want on Course Webpages

Summary of input Fall 2002

Want:

syllabus-- and a "living" syllabus that reflects changes during the course, but also includes a "morgue" so that old versions are not lost
announcements
assignments listed there but only if they duplicate info in class, not as a substitute or addition to in-class assignments
due dates for assignments
old exams
practice tests & quizzes
cumulative grade information
homework solutions
lecture notes, indicating key points
buttons for navigation within site (e.g. from syllabus to homework solutions)
links to outside pages
ABOVE ALL: students want course websites to be SIMPLE and CONCISE (especially since downloading via modems slows down fancy sites, especially those with graphics, considerably)

Don't Want:

online quizzes that count towards grade
message/discussion boards that replace in-class discussions
online homework
old syllabus info that gets dropped
detailed course notes on the web can lead to professors going to fast in class
interactive chat help sessions
lots of links to textbook sites
personal info

Examples of good sites (plus comments)
cda.morris.umn.edu/~coxw
options for syllabus and notes

www.morris.umn.edu/academic/spanish/aronson
buttons within page
links to course pages

cda.morris.umn.edu/~pehng/index.html
table of contents
personal
(drawback: "busy" arrangement)

www.morris.umn.edu/~cushmajs
simple site, lots of info

www.morris.umn.edu/~carpenne/ochem
message board (anonymous)
learning objectives listed

www.morris.umn.edu/academic/statistics (Jon Anderson's)

academic.reed.edu/biology/courses/BIO332
good example of a simple but effective site

www.biology.ualberta.ca/courses.hp/bio366

Bad sites
sites with big pictures, fancy graphics: very slow to download, slows access to real information