Personalizing a Large Lecture Class Using Online Discussion Sections

Women's Studies and Sociology Professor Barrie Thorne is not your typical technology evangelist. She wasn't initially enthusiastic but has been won over. Several years ago she was included as part of the SIMS (Systems Information Management Studies) program that focused on encouraging instructors of large lecture courses to use instructional technologies. Both SIMS program director, Sally Thomas, and Kim Garrett, the GSR who created the WS10 website and taught Thorne how to update it, have backgrounds in women's studies.

Thorne and her two TAs teach 90 students in WS10, an introduction to Women's Studies that she characterizes as "a very interdisciplinary course, acquainting students with major themes and perspectives in women's studies." For the past three years Thorne has used a course website beginning with a "gender adventure body assignment," created with Kim Garrett's assistance.

"Try to develop a tinkering approach.
For some, like me, it may be akin to
overcoming math anxiety."

How Hard Is It to Become Tech-Savvy?
Thorne is very to the point about her experience. "I don't think I would have gotten into this on my own, since I knew nothing about creating websites when I stepped onto the instructional technology road." Thanks to the SIMS program, Thorne's attitude underwent a dramatic change. Spurred on by her WS10 experience, the instructor signed up for a workshop taught by what was then known as the Instructional Technologies Program (now part of ETS). This training enabled her to create a website for her WS104 course using WebCT. Thorne notes, "WebCT is pretty easy to learn but not very aesthetically pleasing. I'm more satisfied with my WS10 website."

An Unexpected Payoff
Thorne has derived great benefits from the course website bulletin board discussions run in tandem with face-to-face discussion sections. She finds the online discussions personalize her large lecture class. They also enable her and her GSIs to "integrate discussion sections with lectures and readings." In addition, Thorne can get feedback about the course before students submit evaluations at the end of the semester. Sometimes she will enter into the online dialogue and add comments, but more frequently she draws ideas from her students. As she explains, "This helps me pitch my lectures, figure out things that need clarification, find out about and respond to anxieties and other emotional layerings as the course goes on."

What Do the Students Think?
Thorne's students report they appreciate the convenience of having the syllabus and handouts available online. Some find the bulletin board discussions not worth the effort, and Thorne and her GSIs are working to draw them in and entice them to care about engaging with one another. She's noticed improvement in the last year and is committed to working on it. Students also comment favorably on online video, such as a sports cable network ad featuring a very stereotyped egg and sperm. Although Thorne is unsure whether the website has affected student performance, she suggests that it may be a help for "shy students who are afraid to talk but communicate freely on the bulletin board."

Some Words to the Uninitiated
For someone who has gone from being out of the technical loop to quite enthusiastic, Thorne has some road-tested advice. She says, "Get other faculty or grad students to demonstrate their uses, share websites, share tips. Try to develop a tinkering approach. For some, like me, it may be akin to overcoming math anxiety."

The litmus test is was the work worth all the effort? "Sometimes I wonder," says Thorne, "but now that I've mastered the fundamentals, and above all, acquired a tinkering attitude about Web pages, WebCT, PowerPoint, scanning, using a laptop and video projector (selectively, to complement lectures), I'm very glad I put in the effort. These are great tools to have at hand."

Technologies Used