Small Teaching Online

by Flower Darby with James M. Lang (Jossey-Bass, 2019)

Small Changes, Big Effects

Small Teaching Online applies James Lang's "small teaching" approach to online college teaching. "Small" refers to everyday decisions that add up to major determinants of student success. Rather than asking faculty to overhaul their approach for a changing student body or educational landscape, the authors focus on "small, actionable modifications." One emphasis of small teaching in the online setting is Universal Design for Learning (UDL), whose principles improve access for students with and without disabilities.

Autonomy in a Math Sequence

Part III examines student and faculty motivation, with autonomy and connection as key ingredients for people in both teaching and learning roles. Limited autonomy is probably a key way math sequence courses differ from many other Foothill classes. What students engage with and produce is largely predetermined, and a multi-course sequence limits room for exploration mid-sequence. The authors' goal is that students in any field can have "some control" over their learning. For example, in online discussions, choice can include options for reading passages, questions to address, and communication modality (written, recorded, etc.).

Specifications Grading

Another angle on motivation is Specifications Grading, which puts responsibility for meeting rubric specifications in students' hands rather than having the teacher grade point by point. Students should then read assignments carefully and monitor their own learning, both steps forward in autonomy. To ease the on-ramp, the authors suggest a limited number of "do over" opportunities rather than infinite corrections. Choice in discussions and specifications grading are both "small" moves in the book's sense, and they offer a way to give math students some control even within a tightly structured sequence.

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