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Student Success

Synchronous Sessions and Creating Community in Digital Spaces

The Literacy Studies faculty uses synchronous online sessions to increase instructor presence and to create a community of learners. We also use other social learning structures that support student learning such as small and whole group discussions, coaching, interactive presentations, guided web tours, document sharing and formative assessment through polling and other tools.

Although our courses are online, each course is assigned a particular day and time for synchronous sessions. Students receive advanced notification of the days and times of these required sessions during the registration process (via Student Self-Service, formerly Student OASIS). Professors require full participation from each student in order to capitalize on multiple perspectives and to enhance the organic learning opportunities afforded through discussion of course-related ideas and themes. Specific details vary for each course and the instructor鈥檚 expectations are fully explained during the course orientation.

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Critical Tasks and Student Success

Throughout the program, faculty identified a series of Critical Tasks that document student learning in the context of selected courses. Faculty created a series of course assignments that best document student performance and that are critical in documenting student learning outcomes relevant to the course content. Each of the critical tasks is tied to the State of Florida reading standards and students must demonstrate mastery on these critical tasks.

Upon completion of course assignments, students submit those assignments marked as 鈥渃ritical tasks鈥� to an external assessment system called Chalk & Wire. Within the Chalk & Wire system, the professor transfers her or his evaluation of the assignment and indicates if the student met the standards and competencies for success. In other words, the instructor assesses the assignment in the context of the course and then she or he transfers the evaluation into the accountability system. The criteria for success do not change as faculty believe assessment is best used within the instructional context. The Chalk & Wire system does not connect to Canvas (our Learning Management System); therefore, students and faculty must manually transfer the assignments and the assessments.

The USF College of Education uses student performance data to determine if individual students have met State of Florida requirements. The USF College of Education uses aggregate student data to determine learning trends. These forms of internal and external assessment and data analysis are intended to document student performance and subsequently improve K-12 learner outcomes. Further discussions of the critical tasks and the Chalk & Wire procedures will occur in the relevant courses. In addition, the benefits and constraints of high-stakes accountability practices and the impact on literacy teaching and learning will be discussed and critiqued in the context of each course.