Mentored teaching project

1. Summary

In the 2019 summer, I taught an online course (i.e., human communication) which aimed to improve students’ public speaking skills, as the instructor of record. In this course, students were supposed to submit three types of speech videos.

• Problem

As this was an online course, students didn’t have a chance to watch other students’ speeches; A lot of students didn’t go over the provided rubric for their speech. To solve this problem, I designed the activities for students with Dr. Allison Eden, who was my faculty mentor for this project.

• Designed Activities

Students were given a chance to evaluate other students' speeches after their first speech. I shared the examples of speeches with students, including the best speeach; Students watched the example speeches and evaluated them based on the rubric as an extra credit assignment. Students, who choose to do the assignment, were required to write a short paragraph of the reflection paper. The reflection paper included: (1) a comparison between their speech and the best speeches based on the rubrics, and (2) a description of how to improve their second speech based on the difference. By completing the assignment, they earned 4% of extra credit. It was expected for students to better understand the rubric (i.e., necessary components for a good speech) by doing this assignment and to have a chance to reflect on themselves.

2. 6-Step Outline

   • Teaching and learning goals

Students who better understand the expectation of a course (or an instructor) would learn more and get a better grade. Most instructors try to explain what they want from students clearly, and one of the ways to explain their expectations is sharing a rubric with students. Although understanding a rubric is an essential step of learning, a lot of students neglect it. The activity aimed to improve students' public speaking skills by providing a chance for students to utilize a rubric. After doing the activity, it was expected that students could articulate the components of good public speaking and how to improve their speech.

2. • Teaching questions

I wanted to test if students could apply a rubric to evaluate others' public speaking, they would have better public speaking skills compared to those who did not use a rubric to evaluate others' public speaking. In my previous teaching experience of Human communication, I found that students did not read the rubric carefully. As a result, they did not understand what my expectation for them was or what components they should have included in their speech. To help them to understand the rubric better, I gave them a chance to evaluate other speeches by using the rubric. I hypothesized that students, who better understood the rubric by participating in this activity, would perform better in their next speeches compared to those who did not do the activity.

2. • Assessment technique

In this course, students were supposed to submit three types of speech videos. I gave students a chance to evaluate other speeches after their first speech. I would be able to test the hypothesis through (1) comparing the grade of first speech and those of second speech within a student who does the activity, and (2) comparing the grade of second speech between students who do the activity and who do not do it.

2. • Classroom practice

After students submit their first speech, I shared examples of good speeches with students. Without knowing they are good examples, students watched the examples and evaluate them based on the rubric as an extra credit assignment. The rubrics consisted of three parts: the essential components for the contents of the speech, the non-verbal/verbal delivery of the speaker, and the visual aid. Students who chose to do the assignment were required to write a short paragraph of the reflection paper. The paper included (1) a comparison between their speech and the best speeches based on the rubrics and (2) a description of how to improve their second speech based on the difference. By completing the assignment, they earned 4% of extra credit. It was expected for students to better understand the rubric (i.e., necessary components for an outline, delivery, and visual aid) by doing this assignment and to have a chance to reflect on themselves.

2. • Summary of results

The number of students who chose to do this extra assignment was 5 among a total of 20 students. Students who didn’t submit their first speech were excluded from the analysis (N=5). As a result, 10 out of 15 students were used for the analysis as a comparison group. To test the hypothesis above, the independent t-tests were conducted. Students who participated in this activity showed statistically higher grades of outline compared to those who didn’t do the activity (see Figure 1). This indicates a chance of utilizing the rubric helped students better understand materials and my expectations for them.

2. • Conclusion

Designing and taking an online course is a challenge for both instructors and students. Instructors are struggling to figure out what students learn and what they do not, while students are struggling to understand the expectations of the courses. By providing a chance for students to utilize the rubric, it was expected to help them to identify the expectations of the courses. Consistent with the hypothesis, making students utilize the rubric helped students to better understand my expectation for them.

Due to the extra credits, I expected more students would participate in this activity, but not many students did so. In the future, it might need a different motivation for students to participate in this kind of activity other than the extra credits. There also existed many confounding variables because this was not a lab experiment. For instance, it was found that students who already performed well in the first speech more participated in this activity. It is possible that they had a better understanding of the components of good public speakings in the first place. In their reflection papers, however, students indicated that this activity grew their confidence in their ability to do better public speaking and apply what they learned from this course. Thus, it can be concluded that providing a chance to utilize the rubric by themselves enhance students' understanding of the expectation from the instructors and enhance their confidence in their ability to apply what they learn in their assignments.

3. Artifacts

   • Assessment instrument

You can find the rubric I used to evaluate students' speech here. This is the same rubric students were provided to do the activity described above.

3. • Data

You can find the anonymous data (SPSS file) here.

3. • Findings

For the detailed findings, see Table 1.

4. Mentored Teaching Project Document

   • You can find the mentored teaching project document here.

   • You can find the evaluative letter of support from mentored teaching project faculty member here.