Manual de Metodología Conexiones por Tracey tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.

1
Manual de la Metodología de
Conexiones
Autora:
Tracey Noel Tokuhama

2
Filosofía de Conexiones
Conexiones: Plataforma de las Ciencias del Aprendizaje integra un enfoque personalizado y humano a
la educación. Nuestros objetivos son la calidad profesional, la celebración de la diversidad, y el
catalizar nuevas experiencias para estimular la innovación con el fin de articular, desarrollar y
sustentar iniciativas educativas que mejoren la calidad de educación. Nuestro equipo interdisciplinario
tiene más de 100 años de experiencia colectiva en la investigación educativa y la capacitación de
profesionales en las ciencias del aprendizaje.
Estamos orgullosos de no solo estar actualizados en las tendencias contemporáneas, sino de liderar
las transformaciones en el campo de las ciencias educativas. El trabajo colaborativo de este equipo
tiene como misión ayudar a las personas, grupos y comunidades de aprendizaje a maximizar su
potencial a través de formación continua, investigación y el desarrollo de estrategias usando una
perspectiva interdisciplinaria e internacional.
En Conexiones pensamos en el proceso enseñanza-aprendizaje de forma diferente a la
conceptualización tradicional. En lugar de un proceso lineal que va desde el profesor hacia los
estudiantes, pensamos en un proceso en espiral y dinámico que involucra el aprendizaje, el re-
aprendizaje, el des-aprendizaje y el nuevo aprendizaje. Esta nueva manera de pensar sobre la
educación tiene sus raíces en la ciencia de la Mente, el Cerebro, y la Educación, y está basado en el
neuro-constructivismo – la manera natural en la que el cerebro construye los conocimientos
aprendidos no solo en la escuela, sino sobre el mundo entero.
Nuestros cursos están centrados en la creencia de que lo innato (genes), y la formación y experiencia
de una persona (experiencia y crianza), combinados con su libre albedrío (opciones y decisiones en la
vida), determinan los resultados de su aprendizaje. Pensamos que es importante que los docentes
comprendan cómo influye la biología y el ambiente en el potencial de aprendizaje del individuo, y
cómo estos se ven impactados por las actitudes del individuo hacía los retos. Es por eso que basamos
todo nuestro trabajo en evidencia y usamos el lema: “la naturaleza a través del ambiente, más el libre
albedrío”.
Esta filosofía de aprendizaje es compatible con la mayoría de las tendencias sobre mejores prácticas
educativas a nivel mundial y difiere principalmente en cómo interactuamos con los estudiantes y cómo
usamos la tecnología para aprovechar el tiempo de mejor manera. Esto significa que,
independientemente del punto de partida de los participantes, tenemos algo para ellos y su
institución.
En el campo de investigación, somos líderes en el país. Como equipo, nosotros producimos más
investigación educativa que todas las universidades ecuatorianas combinadas, la mayoría publicada
en revistas indexadas y por editores internacionales. Esto asegura que la información en nuestros
cursos sea del más alto nivel y lo más actualizada posible.
Actitudes
Entendemos que este formato de curso es diferente a lo que se ha hecho anteriormente. Lo que
ofrecemos no es un MOOC o “educación a distancia” sino un diseño instruccional único que
aprovecha de las herramientas de las plataformas en línea en una forma diferente. Nuestras
investigaciones y publicaciones sobre este diseño instruccional son un cúmulo de evidencia desde el

3
2014 que nos da la confianza de que los cursos ofrecidos aprovechan del mejor uso de la tecnología
para crear la mejor interacción humana posible.
Después de cuatro años de pilotear nuestra metodología en el curso la “Neurociencia del Aprendizaje”
en la Universidad de Harvard (Extension School) podemos demostrar con evidencia (como, por
ejemplo, la retroalimentación de los estudiantes que han pasado por este curso) que este diseño
instruccional mejora los resultados de aprendizaje.
Hemos aprendido que si…
● Están abiertos a la retroalimentación, aprenderán más rápido.
● Escuchan y aprenden de sus compañeros de clase, ampliarán sus perspectivas sobre el
tema.
● Exploran las bibliotecas sobre cada tema explorado, aprenderán más profundamente.
● Participan en clase, no solo serán intelectualmente generoso, sino que abrirán sus ideas
a la crítica y por ende, aprenderán sobre si mismos.
● Reflexionan, sabrán lo que saben y lo que no saben, y por ende, aprenderán mejor la
próxima vez.
A continuación se detalla algunos marcos conceptuales en los que está basada nuestra metodología.
Pensamiento Visible
En Conexiones partimos del conocimiento de que la persona que hace el trabajo es la persona que
aprende. Por esta razón, nuestros cursos facilitan muchas oportunidades de reflexión e interacción
para hacer el pensamiento “visible”, como promueven los autores Richhart, Church y Morrison (2011),
incluyendo las Reflexiones 3-2-1 (tres cosas que no sabías antes; dos cosas que quieres seguir
investigando; una cosa que consideras cambiando en tu vida personal o profesional), protocolos para
medir crecimiento de las ideas ("solía pensar .... y ahora pienso ..." ) y para facilitar el intercambio de
ideas y la retroalimentación entre pares (“yo veo…yo pienso… y me pregunto….”).
Diferenciación
Dar a todos lo que necesitan para tener éxito no significa tratar a todos por igual. Sabemos que los
cerebros humanos son tan únicos como las caras humanas, que no existen dos cerebros iguales, y que
cada persona tiene diferentes potenciales en distintas áreas (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014). Por esta
razón, consideramos que la diferenciación es esencial en el aprendizaje. Consecuentemente, usamos
varios recursos, como una mini-biblioteca por cada tema, misma que tiene distintos recursos para los
diferentes niveles de conocimiento, y evaluaciones sumativas en distintos momentos para maximizar
el aprendizaje y potencial de cada individuo en diferentes áreas.
Diseño Inverso: Comenzar con el Objetivo en Mente
El Diseño Inverso tiene tres pasos. Primero debemos decidir cuál es el objetivo. El objetivo se puede
expresar como una competencia educativa (conocimiento, destreza y/o actitud). Después, debemos
elegir los criterios de éxito o indicadores para verificar que estamos logrando nuestro(s) objetivo(s).
Finalmente, debemos seleccionar la mejor metodología, estrategia, y/o actividad y los mejores

4
recursos para lograr dicho objetivo. Teniendo en cuenta la importancia de este tipo de diseño, los
cursos de Conexiones son construidos desde el Diseño Inverso.
En la planificación educativa es esencial utilizar el Diseño Inverso para asegurar avances hacia los
logros, hacer medibles los objetivos, visibilizar objetivos y ser eficiente en el buen uso de recursos y
tiempo. Este tipo de diseño es importante desde el nivel macro, por ejemplo, al tomar decisiones en
torno a los indicadores de calidad educativa, hasta el nivel micro, por ejemplo, al definir la intervención
más apropiada para asegurar que un estudiante decodifique un fonema en particular para que
aprenda a leer.
Escribir es una forma de pensar
En Conexiones sabemos que el escribir bien depende del poder leer bien, y que el poder leer bien
depende de leer mucho, y que “el escribir es una forma de pensar” (Wolcott, 1990, p. 21). Por esta
razón, en nuestros cursos ofrecemos la oportunidad de leer y escribir de mejor manera a través de la
exploración de los temas, tanto mediante lectura como escritura.
Los cursos son exigentes en escritura porque sabemos que escribir es una dimensión vital de pensar.
Entendemos que algunos estudiantes ingresarán a los cursos de Conexiones sabiendo escribir bien en
forma coloquial y con algunas dificultades en escritura académica. Por tanto ofrecemos mucha
retroalimentación en forma escrita y oral porque sabemos que si los estudiantes están abiertos a la
retroalimentación sobre sus trabajos, también mejorarán su lectura y escritura. En Conexiones, no nos
importa cuántos errores se comente, siempre y cuando sean distintos cada iteración del trabajo.
Para guiar a los estudiantes en esto, además de la retroalimentación detallada, hemos desarrollado
una serie de recursos de apoyo sobre escritura y formato APA (American Psychological Association),
incluyendo videos, plantillas y modelos de trabajos.
El Aprendizaje como constructo social: 1+1=3
En Conexiones sabemos que el aprendizaje es un constructo social. Conocemos que si tú tienes una
buena idea, y yo tengo una buena idea, al combinar las dos ideas, podemos obtener algo mejor de lo
que se podría haber esperado al hacerlo de manera individual (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014). Además,
sabemos que el contagio social explica porque los miembros de un grupo de aprendizaje logran
funcionar como una entidad que beneficie a todos sus miembros y construimos oportunidades de
intercambio en nuestro diseño de foros y en los grupos pequeños en el aula principal de clase para
hacer esto. En Conexiones nos enfocamos en el factor social del aprendizaje de diversas maneras
como, por ejemplo, usando las experiencias de los individuos como ejemplos de clase, la
disponibilidad de espacios virtuales para que los estudiantes se reúnan, el uso de foros sociales para
compartir novedades y la agrupación consciente de estudiantes en trabajos particulares para
aprovechar de los conocimientos del grupo.

5
Diseño de los Cursos y Uso de Herramientas
El Aula Invertida
El modelo de aula invertida ha ganado mucha popularidad desde la década del 2000 y surgió debido
a los avances tecnológicos que aportan a los cambios en la entrega de información (Mok, 2014) al
igual que la apreciación de la importancia del aprendizaje activo (Roehl, Reddy, & Shannon, 2013). El
modelo se aleja del sistema de docencia tradicional en el que el profesor presenta la información al
estudiante durante la clase y proporciona al estudiante tareas para hacer después de clase (Mok,
2014). En el modelo del aula invertida se voltea o "invierte" este proceso, de tal manera que el docente
"imparte" la información al estudiante antes de la clase (por ejemplo, mediante vídeos o lecturas) y
dedica el tiempo en clase a trabajar en conjunto con los estudiantes en actividades relacionadas al
tema impartido (Mok, 2014). Es decir, en el modelo de aula invertida
los estudiantes obtienen la primera exposición a nuevo material fuera del aula, generalmente
a través de videos de charlas o lecturas, y luego usan el tiempo de clase para hacer el trabajo
más difícil de asimilar ese conocimiento, tal vez a través de la resolución de problemas,
discusiones o debates. (Brame, 2013, s/p)
Este sistema es centrado en el estudiante, a diferencia del modelo tradicional que se centra en el
docente. En este sistema, el estudiante asume la responsabilidad sobre su propia experiencia de
aprendizaje, desarrollando de manera independiente el trabajo asignado, y explorando y
familiarizándose con el material de la clase de manera autónoma (Roehl, Reddy, & Shannon, 2013). La
preparación antes de la clase influye la calidad de la experiencia en la clase sincrónica, por ende, el
estudiante aprende a organizarse para aprovechar de su tiempo.
Utilizando la lógica de Diseño Inverso, los cursos de Conexiones están organizados para maximizar el
mejor uso del tiempo cara-a-cara (clase en vivo) y siguen un diseño de aula invertida, 100% en línea.
Los contenidos a impartir (mismos que en un aula regular se presentan durante los encuentros en
vivo) son grabados en video y vistos por los estudiantes antes de clase, permitiendo más tiempo
durante los encuentros sincrónicos del grupo para indagar a profundidad en el material antes
revisado. Los videos y lecturas ofrecen los antecedentes teóricos y los hallazgos de la investigación
relacionados con los temas del módulo, mientras que los encuentros de clase, los foros de discusión y
las reflexiones permiten utilizar la información de manera auténtica. Por cada hora de contacto de
clase, se espera que los estudiantes pasen entre dos y tres horas preparando tareas, leyendo,
investigando, viendo videos e interactuando con compañeros de clase en los foros de discusión.
Presencia del Instructor
En nuestros cursos tenemos múltiples modos de acceso a los diferentes instructores. Los instructores
están disponibles para los estudiantes a través de métodos sincrónicos y asincrónicos, a través de
correo electrónico, horas de oficina, foros de discusión, chats en vivo y herramientas de mensajería.
Hacemos esto porque sabemos que la presencia social de los instructores promueve el sentido de
pertenencia y compromiso afectivo de los estudiantes, así como la construcción de la comunidad, todo
lo cual es propicio para un mejor aprendizaje (Baker, 2010; Dixson, 2010; Dixson, 2015).

6
Participación en Clase
La participación sincrónica en clase es parte del modelo de aula invertida. Sabemos que los seres
humanos aprenden mejor cuando aplican las teorías de manera auténtica a la vida real y el tiempo
cara-a-cara es utilizado para ayudar a los aprendices a entender el uso auténtico de la materia
aprendida. Las clases se ofrecen por videoconferencia de forma sincrónica de acuerdo al horario
definido para cada curso. Esto permite que los estudiantes en distintos países del mundo compartan
la misma aula y descifren juntos los contenidos del curso. Por ende, se espera que los estudiantes
asistan a la clase sincrónica en línea y participen activamente en la misma.
Otra razón para el requerimiento de participación en una clase sincrónica es porque la participación
en clase es importante para poder sentirse parte de la comunidad de aprendizaje. La participación en
vivo de un estudiante lleva a que este se sienta parte del grupo y aprende como su comprensión de la
información se ve influenciada por otras personas, relacionándose así de mejor manera con los
instructores y sus pares.
Considerando que cada persona es diferente, en nuestras clases ofrecemos dos vías de interacción
durante la clase sincrónica. La principal vía es a través de la clase en vivo y la interacción entre el
docente principal, el estudiante y sus compañeros utilizando las herramientas de la plataforma de
teleconferencia (Zoom). A veces hay una división en grupos pequeños en los “break out rooms”, otras
veces el grupo completo se participa en las encuestas (“polls”) para tener sondeos anónimos u
opiniones sobre temas. En otras instancias la instructora guía un debate sobre temas de importancia
o cuestiona a los participantes sobre sus experiencias personales. Es común que los estudiantes
responden a preguntas en el chat, y algunos son llamados a compartir y profundizar sus ideas con el
grupo.
Otra vía utilizada para interactuar es mediante el chat en vivo. A diferencia de otras clases, durante
nuestras clases en vivo realmente animamos a los estudiantes a tener conversaciones paralelas a la
discusión principal. El chat les permite a los instructores y a los estudiantes la oportunidad de
confirmar información, compartir opiniones, experiencias, recursos interesantes e interactuar entre
sí, y les permite a los estudiantes con problemas de conectividad (sin micrófonos o cámaras) participar
en clase de manera activa. También permite que las personas que están menos dispuestas a hablar
en clase compartan sus ideas con los compañeros a través de mensajes escritos. Valoramos estas dos
vías de comunicación en Conexiones porque sabemos que el aprendizaje es social y porque sabemos
que no es natural “guardar las preguntas hasta el final” de la presentación o idea. Compartir con
compañeros de esta manera ayuda a las personas a sentir que pertenecen, mejora la participación de
los estudiantes y da como resultado un mayor compromiso con el aprendizaje (Finn y Zimmer, 2012).
Foros de Discusión
Mientras los foros de discusión son comunes en los cursos en línea, en Conexiones los utilizamos de
forma ligeramente diferente. En una clase a distancia, normalmente se utiliza el foro como un
indicador de que el estudiante ha leído el material y sabe responder a una pregunta relacionada al
tema de la semana. En Conexiones, utilizamos los foros de discusión principalmente para crear
significancia personal respecto de lo que vemos en clase, y para crear una comunidad de aprendizaje
a través del diálogo.
Pedimos a los estudiantes que respondan a una pregunta partiendo de sus experiencias personales y
profesionales, así como de la literatura en la clase. Esto es importante ya que permite al estudiante
reflexionar de manera práctica y relevante para su vida personal respecto de los materiales,

7
conceptos, teorías, y elementos discutidos en clase. También permite a los instructores entender el
“punto de partida” de cada aprendiz con los conceptos, sea avanzado o principiante. Cada unidad
tiene una o más preguntas o planteamientos en los foros de discusión. Éstas sirven para reflexionar
sobre las ideas de los estudiantes y para motivarles a escuchar e intercambiar ideas con otros, desafiar
creencias previas, y abrir su mente a distintas maneras de pensar.
Algunos ejemplos de preguntas del foro en el curso sobre el cerebro y aprendizaje son los siguientes:
• ¿Cuáles son los beneficios de usar un enfoque transdisciplinario (neurociencia + psicología +
educación) para el aprendizaje? ¿Cuáles son los desafíos de hacerlo?
• No hay dos cerebros iguales. ¿Qué implicaciones tiene esto para su aula de clase? ¿Qué retos
plantea este hecho para el sistema educativo?
• No todos los seres humanos necesitan la misma cantidad de comida (sueño, ejercicio físico)
para sobrevivir. Diferentes cosas estresan (deprimen, asustan, causan ansiedad en) diferentes
personas. Los estudiantes requieren de distintos tipos y cantidades de motivación
(retroalimentación, tiempo) para aprender. Estas diferencias entre seres humanos nos obligan
a diferenciar la instrucción y evaluación en nuestras instituciones educativas.
• ¿Qué es algo que usted hace en su clase para diferenciar el trabajo con sus estudiantes?
• El cerebro es muy eficiente y, para conservar energía, toda la información percibida pasa por
“el filtro” de los conocimientos previos (sistemas de memoria). Esto significa que lo que sabe
un estudiante, en forma consiente o inconsciente, influye en el nuevo aprendizaje.
• ¿Cómo se puede aprovechar de esta información para enseñar mejor? ¿Qué es algo que Usted
hace para estimular los conocimientos previos de los estudiantes en su aula?
Esta estrategia de reflexión personal respecto del material es utilizada para asegurar un aprendizaje
profundo y duradero, ligado a las emociones y a la curiosidad, el cual será relevante para el estudiante
a lo largo del tiempo (Jones, 2009).
Además, ya que sabemos que el aprendizaje es altamente social, pedimos a los estudiantes responder
a sus compañeros de manera sustantiva y profunda, y buscamos que mantengan diálogo y
conversaciones en los foros. De esta manera, se crea una comunidad de aprendizaje que brinda apoyo
a todos los aprendices, hace que los estudiantes experimenten mayor sentido de pertenencia y
compromiso afectivo, factores que se ha encontrado mejoran el aprendizaje (Finn y Zimmer, 2012).
En las respuestas iniciales se exige reflexiones completas y en las respuestas a otros aprendices no se
permite respuestas sencillas como “Estoy de acuerdo” o “Me gustan tus ideas”, sino que exigimos una
reflexión e inversión en los otros aprendices, como se ve en la rúbrica de los foros.

8
Se pide que las respuestas sean concretas y coherentes:
Además, deben indicar una relevancia personal y que incluyan información y evidencia de los
materiales sobre el tema tratado:

9
Finalmente, que las respuestas a otros compañeros sean substanciales:
En cada módulo el estudiante debe escribir una respuesta original (de 200 a 250 palabras) a la
pregunta publicada en el foro de discusión. Además, debe leer y contestar sustancialmente (en 75 a
100 palabras) a las respuestas principales de por lo menos dos otros estudiantes. Todas las respuestas
principales deben enviarse a más tardar a la medianoche del día anterior a la clase sincrónica, de tal
manera que se pueda incorporar información de las mismas a la clase sincrónica. A pesar de ello, dado
que las publicaciones tempranas generalmente reciben más comentarios de sus compañeros de clase
e instructores, se sugiere a los estudiantes publicar lo antes posible. Las respuestas a por lo menos
dos compañeros deben enviarse a más tardar una semana después de la clase en vivo. Las
publicaciones en el foro deben ser sustanciales, alentadoras, constructivas y bien documentadas con
evidencia de las lecturas del curso y / o fuentes externas confiables.
Mini-Bibliotecas
En Conexiones, entendemos que nuestros estudiantes toman los cursos desde distintos niveles de
conocimiento previo sobre el tema. A veces tenemos en la misma clase gente que está en camino a
obtener su doctorado y gente que no han tomado un curso en 20 años. Por ende, sabemos que
tenemos que diferenciar los materiales sobre cada tema. Además, sabemos que todo nuevo
aprendizaje pasa por el filtro de las experiencias previas (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014), que implica que
debemos aprovechar de los conocimientos previos de cada estudiante seleccionando materiales en
distintas modalidades (videos, lecturas, podcasts, entre otros). Por estas razones creamos mini
bibliotecas con una variedad de recursos sobre cada tema (disponibles sin costo en internet).
En lugar de utilizar un libro de texto o un recurso único para el curso, cada unidad está acompañada
por uno o más compendios o mini-bibliotecas. Las mini-bibliotecas (“bundles” en inglés) fueron
creados por primera vez en el curso de Harvard por Tokuhama-Espinosa en 2014 cuando tuvieron
estudiantes de nivel de maestría, de grado y de no-crédito en el mismo curso. Los estudiantes
reportaron un alto nivel de satisfacción con la diferenciación ofrecida por los bundles y por su bajo
costo. Estos compendios son carpetas en el aula virtual que consisten de una variedad de enlaces a

10
artículos de revistas, videos, podcasts, sitios web y otros recursos gratuitos. Estas bibliotecas tienen
material con distintos niveles de dificultad (principiante, intermedio, avanzado) y en diferentes
formatos (video, artículo indexado, libro y ensayo universitario). Esto permite que cada estudiante
tenga una entrada al conocimiento desde distintos puntos de partida permitiendo a cada estudiante
construir sobre sus conocimientos previos, algo que mejora su experiencia de aprendizaje (Tokuhama-
Espinosa, 2017). Además, permite a cada estudiante revisar la información en el formato de su
preferencia. Los estudiantes pueden explorar estos recursos y materiales y encontrar su punto de
partida “ideal” para que, en base a su conocimiento previo, construya nuevos conocimientos y crezca
su comprensión en etapas apropiadas. Esto significa que el mismo curso puede tener estudiantes de
diferentes niveles educativos, y/o con diferentes niveles de conocimiento.
Pruebas
Le evidencia en relación a cómo aprenden las personas y qué ayuda a un estudiante a aprender de
mejor manera indica que el tomar pocos exámenes de alto peso (“high stakes”) puede ser menos
beneficioso para los estudiantes que dar varios exámenes con poco peso (”low stakes”). El tomar
varios exámenes de poco peso en lugar de pocos exámenes de mucho peso puede:
1. Ayudar a disminuir las brechas de rendimiento de aquellos estudiantes que llegan menos
preparados a la universidad (Pennebaker, Gosling, & Ferrell, 2013).
2. Ayudar a reducir la ansiedad que a algunas personas le causa el tomar exámenes de alto valor
(Agarwal, D’Antonio, Roediger, McDermott, & McDaniel, 2014).
3. Crear procesos de recuperación activa y práctica de recuperación (ambos elementos de la
memoria), mismos que mejoran la memoria del estudiante y, por lo tanto, el aprendizaje
(Brame y Biel, 2015)
4. Aportar a procesos de práctica de recuperación que facilitan la metacognición, principalmente
el auto monitoreo de la propia comprensión y la autorregulación de decisiones de estudio
(Littrell‐Baez, Friend, Caccamise, y Okochi, 2015).
5. Establecer una “vista previa” de los conceptos importantes de cada módulo, permitiendo un
enfoque de atención en las ideas principales y una “búsqueda” natural del cerebro por la
mención de esas ideas en los materiales de clase (Richland, Kornell, y Kao, 2009). El “pre-test
effect” muestra la efectividad de esta práctica (Karpicke y Grimaldi, 2012).
Por estas razones, si bien tradicionalmente muchos profesores utilizan las pruebas para evaluar el
conocimiento de sus estudiantes o para cerciorarse de que lean el material enviado, en las clases de
Conexiones utilizamos esta herramienta de manera diferente. Primero que todo, las pruebas cumplen
la función de medir el crecimiento del conocimiento del estudiante: la primera toma es utilizada como
una línea base de conocimientos, mientras las siguientes tomas muestran el crecimientos después de
revisar la materias y/o asistir a la clase en vivo. Asimismo, cumplen la función de asegurarnos de que,
cuando nos reunamos de manera sincrónica, todos tengamos el mismo conocimiento base de la
terminología, conceptos, y teorías sobre las que trabajaremos (particularmente dado que este tipo de
conocimiento puede ser reforzado mediante las pruebas frecuentes).
A pesar de que en los cursos de Conexiones lo importante es el aprendizaje más que la calificación
recibida en una tarea, las pruebas son calificadas principalmente considerando los resultados de
estudios como, por ejemplo, el estudio de Trumbo, Leiting, McDaniel y Hodge (2016). Estos
investigadores hicieron una serie de experimentos con estudiantes y encontraron no solamente que
incluir pruebas obligatorias dentro de los trabajos calificados en el curso impactaba positiva y
significativamente los resultados de aprendizaje de los estudiantes, sino también que la mayoría de
estudiantes a quienes no se les exigía realizar pruebas como parte regular y calificada de la asignatura,
no tenían la motivación intrínseca para hacerlo, ni se veían reforzados de manera extrínseca para

11
hacerlo dada la ausencia de contabilización de su rendimiento hacia la calificación de la clase (Trumbo,
Leiting, McDaniel, y Hodge, 2016).
A pesar de ser calificadas, en las clases de Conexiones el estudiante podrá tomar la prueba de cada
módulo tantas veces como quiera para afianzar su conocimiento de términos y conceptos clave del
módulo. Como mínimo, se sugiere que el estudiante debería tomar la prueba dos veces. Primero,
debería tomar la prueba una vez antes de revisar el contenido del módulo; esto establecerá una línea
base del conocimiento del estudiante y lo orientará hacia el contenido del módulo. Luego, debería
tomar la prueba una segunda vez después de que haya visto el vídeo pre-clase, explorado los recursos
de las mini-bibliotecas, y asistido a la clase sincrónica; esto le mostrará su crecimiento en el tema. Si
bien el estudiante puede tomar la prueba cuantas veces como desee (¡y obtener una calificación
perfecta!), solo la calificación más alta se mantendrá. Al estructurar las pruebas en esta manera, se
utiliza la herramienta como una evaluación formativa, no sumativa, se aprovecha de los sistemas de
memoria en el cerebro para concretar conocimientos y se mejora el aprendizaje de los conceptos
básicos y el vocabulario del curso.
Reflexiones 3-2-1
Para pensar claramente sobre ideas complejas, también necesitamos tiempo de reflexión, no solo
tiempo de instrucción. En las aulas tradicionales, compartimos mucha información – a veces tanta
información que es abrumador – por ello, la incorporación de un tiempo de reflexión es parte de las
mejores prácticas en el aula. El tiempo de reflexión es necesario para pensar de manera clara sobre
una idea, comprenderla, y aprenderla (Yiend, 2010). La oportunidad de reflexionar sobre material
visto en clase desde una perspectiva personal puede afectar la memoria, las emociones, la atención,
la relevancia personal de la información, y el compromiso estudiantil, entre otros (Wolff, 2015; Yiend
2010; Young, 2018).
Por estas razones, en las clases de Conexiones le dedicamos tiempo a la reflexión, de tal manera que
la información se vuelve relevante para cada uno de los estudiantes, mejorando así los procesos de
aprendizaje. En nuestros cursos, los estudiantes cuestionan sus creencias e ideas, responden por qué
hacen ciertas cosas en su práctica diaria y cómo justifican esto que han hecho a lo largo del tiempo,
incluso sin reflexionar.
Para reflexionar y documentar el progreso de aprendizaje sobre cada tema, después de cada clase en
vivo, los estudiantes desarrollan una reflexión 3-2-1 durante los últimos minutos de cada clase en vivo.
La Reflexión 3-2-1 es un breve cuestionario que le pide que identifique tres cosas que no sabía antes
de la clase, dos cosas que va a investigar en más profundidad o compartir con otra persona, y una cosa
que cambiará en su vida personal o práctica profesional debido a la información aprendida durante el
módulo. La calidad de la reflexión 3-2-1, junto con las contribuciones del chat y participación en las
discusiones de clase determinan el nivel de participación en la clase sincrónica. El 3-2-1 de las clases
en Conexiones es una modificación del concepto introducido por Ritchhardt, Church y Morrison en su
libro de 2011, pero difiere en el elemento de “tres palabras,” “dos preguntas” y “un metáfora o símil”.
La rúbrica de Conexiones para las reflexiones 3-2-1 es la siguiente:
En los últimos minutos de la clase, se te pedirá que vengas a esta actividad y lo publiques
brevemente (de seis a diez oraciones):
• Tres cosas que no sabías antes de la clase

12
• Dos cosas que vas a compartir con otra persona o seguir investigando porque son muy
interesantes
• Una cosa que cambiará en su vida personal o práctica profesional debido a la información
aprendida esta semana
A diferencia de otros cursos, en los cursos de Conexiones, utilizamos las reflexiones de los estudiantes
no solo para captar el momento sino a lo largo del curso. Acumulamos las reflexiones y en distintos
momentos del curso (a medio curso y al final), los revisamos con el grupo para establecer crecimiento
respecto de la materia y los temas del curso. En la última clase, reunimos todas las reflexiones de
todos las participantes del curso para hacer una reflexión grupal sobre el aprendizaje acumulativo que
sirve para resumir información, pero además, para personalizar la relación a los temas a la vida de real
de cada estudiante.
Rúbricas y Retroalimentación
Las rúbricas usadas en los cursos de Conexiones se comparten y, si es necesario, se modifican con los
estudiantes antes de que se completen las tareas. La estructura general de las rúbricas se mantiene
en varias tareas, por lo que los estudiantes pueden familiarizarse con la información y, luego de que
los alumnos reciben comentarios, se les incentiva a responder y reaccionar a los diferentes criterios.
En general, las rúbricas son muy detalladas y narran explícitamente cada nivel de logro, porque
sabemos que los estudiantes realmente aprecian comprender las expectativas y tener una
transparencia sobre la calificación (Brophy, 2010; Jones, 2009). Además, conocemos que los
estudiantes se sienten motivados y tienen una perspectiva positiva de la clase (y aprenden mejor)
cuando tienen la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre cómo pueden mejorar la próxima vez (Jones, 2009;
Mujis y Reynolds, 2017).
Las rúbricas son solo una de las herramientas que utilizamos para dar retroalimentación con gran
frecuencia dentro del curso. A medida que los estudiantes reciben retroalimentación constante en
una variedad de formas, tanto escritas como verbales, llegan a habituar una manera de reflexionar
sobre su trabajo en varias etapas del proceso de aprendizaje. Este tipo de retroalimentación detallada
mejora el aprendizaje, la autoeficacia, y las estrategias correctivas (Brewer y Burgess, 2005; Jones,
2009; Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014).
Reenvío de Trabajos: La Construcción del Aprendizaje
En Conexiones tenemos una política muy flexible sobre el reenvío de trabajos. Describimos esto como
una política de “reescritura infinita,” dentro de un marco de tiempo específico. A los estudiantes se
les permite reescribir el trabajo que creen que pueden mejorar porque sabemos que si usan la
retroalimentación, generalmente mejoran substancialmente sus deberes. La evidencia científica
apunta a que el aprendizaje mejora cuando un estudiante tiene la posibilidad de rectificar y aprender
de sus errores (Brewer y Burgess, 2005; Jones, 2009). Además de ser beneficioso para el aprendizaje
como tal, esto permite a los estudiantes utilizar estrategias correctivas, aprender de sus errores, y
mejorar hacia futuro (Brewer y Burgess, 2005).
Nuestra filosofía es que si un estudiante puede aprender de sus errores, se les debe dar la oportunidad
de hacerlo. Lo típico en las clases en línea, en MOOCs o en otros tipos de desarrollo profesional es que

13
una vez corregido el trabajo, la nota del deber es fija. En Conexiones, se puede siempre mejorar su
rendimiento con esfuerzo, (aunque pierde el 10% con cada intento para motivar la entrega puntual
de los deberes). Mientras es más trabajo para el equipo de instructores, es la única forma de
aprovechar del nuevo aprendizaje que ganan los estudiantes a través de la retroalimentación recibida.
Además, refleja cómo funciona el trabajo en el mundo real: si un colaborador no hace algo bien en su
trabajo, normalmente se le manda a rehacerlo (no se despide a la persona), pero hay que aprender
cómo usar la retroalimentación para remediar los vacíos en conocimientos o competencias. Al permitir
la re-entrega de deberes, los estudiantes aprenden más, mejor y más profundamente sobre el
aprendizaje en sí, no solo sobre la materia.
Deberes Atrasados
En Conexiones entendemos que los horarios de la escuela, el hogar y el trabajo a veces pueden ser
difíciles de alinear. Sin embargo, enfatizamos que la puntualidad en la entrega de tareas es esencial
para la capacidad del estudiante de mantenerse al día con la cantidad de material presentado en los
curso. Además, consideramos que el equipo de instructores también debe equilibrar los requisitos de
su vida y organiza cuidadosamente sus horarios para poder proporcionar al estudiante
retroalimentación e información de manera oportuna. Por esto, a pesar de que consideramos que la
presentación tardía de tareas compromete la salud de este sistema, tenemos flexibilidad en la entrega
de tareas (con cierta penalidad por puntualidad) para poder apoyar de la mejor manera posible el
crecimiento y aprendizaje del estudiante.
Ningún deber entregado más de dos semanas pasada la fecha de entrega será calificado, poniendo un
límite en los tiempos. Diferente a los MOOCs (donde se hace los deberes a su propio paso), los cursos
en Conexiones ofrecen flexibilidad, pero exigen la cortesía al grupo de hacer los deberes a tiempo para
que la comunidad pueda avanzar junta.
Ruta de Aprendizaje
La ruta de aprendizaje y las asignaciones semanales típicas de cada módulo se detallan a continuación:
Paso 1: Prepararse para la clase
1. Tomar la prueba del módulo (20 minutos)
2. Ver el video pre-clase (20 minutos)
3. Explorar los recursos (lecturas, videos, y otros) de módulo (1-1.5 horas)
4. Responder al foro de discusión (20 minutos)
Paso 2: Asistir a la clase sincrónica
1. Asistir a la clase sincrónica; participar activamente (1 a 1.5 horas)
2. Completar la reflexión 3-2-1 al en los últimos 5 minutos de la clase (5 minutos)
Paso 3: Después de la clase
1. Comentar en las respuestas de dos compañeros en el foro de discusión (20 minutos)
2. Tomar nuevamente, si lo desea, la prueba del módulo (15 minutos)
3. Prepararse para el siguiente módulo
Este sistema indica que los estudiantes están trabajando alrededor de dos a tres horas afuera de
clase por cada hora en la clase sincrónica.

14
Conexiones Curso de 8
módulos
Cursos de 10
módulos
Cursos de 12
módulos
Cursos de 15
módulos
Horas sincrónicas 1 2 1 2 2 2
Horas de preparación
de clase
1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Horas para deberes 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Capacitación total en
horas:
32 40 40 50 60 75
Esta estructura coincide con el número de horas estimadas para cursos en línea en el modelo del
aula invertida con reuniones sincrónicas (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2017).

15
Referencias
Agarwal, P. K., D’Antonio, L., Roediger III, H. L., McDermott, K. B., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014).
Classroom-based programs of retrieval practice reduce middle school and high school
students’ test anxiety. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 3(3), 131-139.
Baker, C. (2010). The impact of instructor immediacy and presence for online student affective
learning, cognition, and motivation. Journal of Educators Online, 7(1), n1.
Brame, C. J., & Biel, R. (2015). Test-enhanced learning: the potential for testing to promote greater
learning in undergraduate science courses. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 14(2), es4.
Brame, C., (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Recuperado el
17 de marzo, 2019 de http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom/
Brewer, E. W., & Burgess, D. N. (2005). Professor's role in motivating students to attend
class. Journal of STEM Teacher Education, 42(3), 23-47.
Brophy, J. (2010). Motivating students to learn. New York, NY: Routledge.
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative
process (Revised edition). Boston: D.C. Heath and Company.
Dixson, M. D. (2010). Creating effective student engagement in online courses: What do students
find engaging? Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1-13.
Dixson, M. D. (2015). Measuring Student Engagement in the Online Course: The Online Student
Engagement Scale (OSE). Online Learning, 19(4), n4.
Finn, J. D., & Zimmer, K. S. (2012). Student engagement: What is it? Why does it matter? En S. L.
Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student
engagement (pp. 97-131). New York, NY, US: Springer Science + Business Media.
Jones, B. D. (2009). Motivating students to engage in learning: the MUSIC model of academic
motivation. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 21(2), 272-
285.
Karpicke, J. D., & Grimaldi, P. J. (2012). Retrieval-based learning: A perspective for enhancing
meaningful learning. Educational Psychology Review, 24(3), 401-418.
Littrell‐Baez, M., Friend, A., Caccamise, D., & Okochi, C. (2015). Using retrieval practice and
metacognitive skills to improve content learning. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,
58(8), 682-689.
Mok, H. N. (2014). Teaching tip: The flipped classroom. Journal of Information Systems Education,
25(1), 7-11.
Muijs, D., & Reynolds, D. (2017). Effective teaching: evidence and practice. London, England: Sage.
Pennebaker, J. W., Gosling, S. D., & Ferrell, J. D. (2013). Daily online testing in large classes: Boosting
college performance while reducing achievement gaps. PloS one, 8(11), e79774.
Richland, L. E., Kornell, N., & Kao, L. S. (2009). The pretesting effect: Do unsuccessful retrieval
attempts enhance learning? Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 15(3), 243.
Roehl, A., Reddy, S. L., & Shannon, G. J. (2013). The flipped classroom: An opportunity to engage
millennial students through active learning strategies. Journal of Family & Consumer
Sciences, 105(2), 44-49.
Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2014). Making classrooms better: 50 practical applications based on 10
Mind, Brain, and Education science. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.
Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2017). Differentiating University Course Instructional Design: A 100% Online,
Flipped Course with Personalized Resources for Students [Libro Blanco]. Recuperado 10 de
junio, 2019 de https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rnXt61VlXFHb5xYl_0ZJqncaMU-2qfLM/view
Trumbo, M. C., Leiting, K. A., McDaniel, M. A., & Hodge, G. K. (2016). Effects of reinforcement on
test-enhanced learning in a large, diverse introductory college psychology course. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Applied, 22(2), 148.
Wolcott, H.F. (1990). Writing up qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Wolff, M., Wagner, M. J., Poznanski, S., Schiller, J., & Santen, S. (2015). Not another boring lecture:

16
engaging learners with active learning techniques. The Journal of Emergency Medicine,
48(1), 85-93.
Yiend, J. (2010). The effects of emotion on attention: A review of attentional processing of emotional
information. En J. De Houwer & D. Hermans (Eds.), Cognition and emotion: Reviews of
current research and theory (pp. 211- 275). Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
Young, M. R. (2018). Reflection fosters deep learning: The 'Reflection Page & Relevant to You'
intervention. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, 20.

17
Anexos- Presentaciones, White Papers y Artículos

18
A. Presentación en la conferencia “Reimagine Conference”
Por: Tracey Tokuhama-Esapinosa y Cynthia Borja
Noviembre, 2018

19
Esta presentación se realizó en la Conferencia “Reimagine Education” en el mes de noviembre 2018
en San Francisco, Estados Unidos. Durante la misma se explicó toda la metodología y estructura de los
cursos de Conexiones.
A continuación está toda la presentación.
Bienvenido a Conexiones, la
neurociencia del diseño
instruccional
En Conexiones, pensamos sobre la
dinámica de enseñanza y
aprendizaje de manera diferente.
En lugar de un proceso lineal de
profesor a estudiante, vemos un
proceso de en espiral y dinámico
de aprendizaje, re-aprendizaje,
desaprendizaje y nuevo
aprendizaje.
Esta nueva forma de pensar acerca de la enseñanza tiene sus raíces en la Ciencia de la Mente, el
Cerebro y la Educación, y el neuroconstructivismo. Se basa en seis principios fundamentales sobre
el aprendizaje humano.
El cerebro humano es único.
Diferentes personas tienen
diferentes potenciales. Todo
nuevo aprendizaje pasa por el
filtro de la experiencia previa. El
cerebro cambia constantemente
por la experiencia. La
neuroplasticidad existe a lo largo
de la vida. No hay nuevo
aprendizaje sin los dos pilares de la memoria y la atención.

20
Nuestras clases se centran en la
creencia de que la naturaleza de
una persona (sus genes) y su
crianza (su educación y su
entorno), combinados con su
propia voluntad (sus elecciones y
decisiones en la vida) determinan
los resultados de aprendizaje.
Esta filosofía de aprendizaje es
compatible con la mayoría de las
mejores prácticas educativas
principales y difiere principalmente
en cómo interactuamos con los
estudiantes y cómo aprovechamos
la tecnología.
Utilizamos un modelo de clase
sincrónica e invertida, y la clave del
éxito en Conexiones es que usamos
herramientas muy típicas, pero de maneras muy diferentes.
Por ejemplo, pruebas. En el
módulo del curso, tenemos un
cuestionario que los estudiantes
pueden tomar tantas veces como
quieran. Se utilizan como
evaluación formativa, para
garantizar que durante la clase
sincrónica podamos compartir
vocabulario y conocimiento
conceptual. Hoy existe mucha
buena investigación que muestra
que las pruebas frecuentes de peso bajo son excelentes para la memoria y, por lo tanto, mejoran
los resultados de aprendizaje.

21
En lugar de utilizar un libro de
texto o un recurso único para el
curso, cada unidad está
acompañada por uno o más
compendios o mini-bibliotecas.
Estos compendios consisten en
enlaces a artículos de revistas,
videos, podcasts, sitios web y
otros recursos con diferentes
niveles de complejidad y
dificultad. Estos compendios les
permiten a los estudiantes tener múltiples puntos de entrada al mismo tema. Esto significa que el
mismo curso puede tener estudiantes de nivel de maestría y estudiantes de pre grado, así como
estudiantes sin crédito en la misma sala.
La Reflexión 3-2-1 es un ensayo de
un minuto que requiere que los
estudiantes documenten tres cosas
que no sabían antes de que
comenzara la clase, dos cosas en
las que están tan interesados que
quieren seguir investigando y una
cosa que pueden comprometerse a
cambiar basado en la información
que se presentó en la clase. Los
cursos a menudo bombardean a
los estudiantes con mucha información, pero rara vez les dan la oportunidad de dar un paso atrás
y consolidar realmente la información que han aprendido.
En Conexiones utilizamos los foros
de discusión de forma
ligeramente diferente y
principalmente para construir una
comunidad de aprendizaje.
Pedimos a los estudiantes que
respondan a una pregunta
partiendo de sus experiencias
personales y profesionales, así
como de la literatura en la clase.
Este tipo de conversaciones y
debates ayudan a los estudiantes a reflexionar sobre la información desde una perspectiva muy
personal y eleva su curiosidad, y ayuda con la memoria, las emociones, la atención y, por lo tanto,
el aprendizaje.

22
A diferencia de otras clases,
durante nuestras clases en vivo
realmente animamos a los
estudiantes a tener una
conversación paralela. El chat les
permite a los instructores y a los
estudiantes la oportunidad de
compartir opiniones, experiencias,
recursos interesantes e interactuar
entre sí, y les permite a los
estudiantes con problemas de
conectividad (sin micrófonos o cámaras) participar en clase de manera activa. También permite
que las personas que están menos dispuestas a hablar en clase compartan sus ideas. Hacemos
esto en Conexiones porque sabemos que el aprendizaje es social. Compartir con compañeros de
esta manera y construir una comunidad de aprendizaje ayuda a las personas a sentir que
pertenecen, mejora la participación de los estudiantes y da como resultado un mayor compromiso
con el aprendizaje.
Durante cada curso tenemos un
proyecto del semestre y lo
hacemos por dos razones.
Sabemos que escribir es una forma
de pensar, pero también sabemos
que la posibilidad de personalizar
la información y profundizar en un
área de interés específico también
es una gran motivación para los
estudiantes. Al dividir esto en cinco
partes más pequeñas, los
estudiantes reciben comentarios constantes de profesores y compañeros sobre el desarrollo de
sus propias ideas a lo largo del período.
Si bien muchas clases tienen
rúbricas, las nuestras se
comparten y, si es necesario, se
modifican con los estudiantes
antes de que se completen las
tareas. La estructura general de
las rúbricas se mantiene en varias
tareas, por lo que los estudiantes
pueden familiarizarse con la
información y, luego de que los
alumnos reciben comentarios, se
les incentiva a responder y reaccionar a los diferentes criterios. En general, las rúbricas son muy

23
detalladas y narran explícitamente cada nivel de logro, porque sabemos que los estudiantes
realmente aprecian comprender las expectativas y tener una transparencia sobre la calificación,
así como la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre cómo pueden mejorar la próxima vez.
Las rúbricas son solo una de las
herramientas que utilizamos para
dar retroalimentación con gran
frecuencia dentro del curso. A
medida que los estudiantes reciben
retroalimentación constante en
una variedad de formas, tanto
escritas como verbales, llegan a
habituar una manera de reflexionar
sobre su trabajo en varias etapas
del proceso de aprendizaje. Este
tipo de retroalimentación detallada mejora el aprendizaje y las estrategias correctivas.
En Conexiones tenemos una
política muy flexible sobre el
reenvío de trabajos. Describimos
esto como una política de
reescritura infinita, dentro de un
marco de tiempo específico. A los
estudiantes se les permite
reescribir el trabajo que creen que
pueden mejorar porque sabemos
que si usan la retroalimentación,
generalmente pueden mejorar.
Nuestra filosofía es que si un estudiante puede aprender de sus errores, se les debe dar la
oportunidad de hacerlo.
En nuestros cursos tenemos
múltiples modos de acceso a los
diferentes instructores. Los
instructores están disponibles para
los estudiantes a través de
métodos sincrónicos y
asincrónicos, a través de correo
electrónico, horas de oficina, foros
de discusión, chats en vivo y
herramientas de mensajería.
Hacemos esto porque sabemos
que la presencia social de los instructores promueve el sentido de pertenencia y compromiso
afectivo de los estudiantes, así como la construcción de la comunidad, todo lo cual es propicio
para un mejor aprendizaje.

24
Como curso sobre la neurociencia
del aprendizaje tenemos múltiples
estrategias. Todo esto se comunica
a través de una comprensión del
contagio social y la forma en que
los individuos pueden influenciarse
unos a otros en el contexto de
aprendizaje. Después de cuatro
años de trabajar dentro de la
misma estructura, creemos que
podemos decir con confianza que
cada herramienta individual es muy exitosa, pero juntas crean un diseño instructivo poderoso que
conduce a una mayor satisfacción de los estudiantes y mejora los resultados de aprendizaje.
Gracias por la oportunidad de
compartir hoy sobre este nuevo
formato de diseño instruccional,
esperamos cualquier duda que
pueda tener.

25
B. Whitepaper: Differentiating University Course Instructional Design: A
100% Online, Flipped Course with Personalized Resources for Students
Por: Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
Julio 27, 2016 revisado 20 Marzo 20, 2018
Disponible en formato digital en
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327287713_Differentiating_University_Course_Instr
uctional_Design_A_100_Online_Flipped_Course_with_Personalized_Resources_for_Students_O
riginal_Title_The_Social_Darwinism_of_Universities_Eight_Tools_to_Improve_U

26
The Social Darwinism of Universities:
Eight Tools to Improve University Teaching in an Era of Change
By
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
July 27, 2016

27
Table of Contents
The Past, Present and Future of University Education ................................................ 30
University Teaching is Slow to Change ........................................................................................30
The Benefits of a University Education.................................................................................................. 30
Who Attends and Who Succeeds in University................................................................................... 32
The Role of Universities in Societies....................................................................................................... 34
Growing Into the Times: Changes Needed in Higher Education .........................................36
Reinventing the University Experience.......................................................................................38
Online Education............................................................................................................................................. 38
Case Study: Psychology 1609 Harvard University Extension School...................... 39
Theoretical Framework: Visible Learning and 50 Best Practices .......................................40
Flipping the Classroom ..........................................................................................................................................44
Weekly Content Video ............................................................................................................................................44
Eight Quality Teaching Talking Points.........................................................................................45
1. What Influences Student Learning Outcomes................................................................................ 45
Enhance Student Self-Efficacy Through Appropriate Feedback................................................................46
Offer Multiple Entry Points to Information.........................................................................................................47
“Bundles” or Mini-libraries ..................................................................................................................................47
Synchronous Class....................................................................................................................................................51
Live Chat .......................................................................................................................................................................51
Sections .........................................................................................................................................................................53
Teacher Attitudes ...........................................................................................................................................................55
Teacher Credibility and Intellectual Humility. ............................................................................................55
Create a Community of Learners .......................................................................................................................56
Create a Culture that Welcomes Evaluation. ......................................................................................................57
Use Evaluation Tools that Respond to the Course Objectives. ...................................................................58
Rubrics...........................................................................................................................................................................58
Written Feedback .....................................................................................................................................................59
Oral Feedback.............................................................................................................................................................60
Self-Critique ................................................................................................................................................................60
Appropriate Methodologies.......................................................................................................................................61
Accessibility and Communication...........................................................................................................................62
Clear Instructions .....................................................................................................................................................63
Repetition.....................................................................................................................................................................64
Value Group Learning...................................................................................................................................................64
2. Knowledge of the Brain and Learning............................................................................................... 65
Take Advantage of Prior Knowledge. ....................................................................................................................66
Accept Individual Differences...................................................................................................................................66
Ensure Activities that Enhance Memory and Attention. ...............................................................................67
Differentiate Among Students’ Needs ...................................................................................................................67
Test to Enhance Learning......................................................................................................................................68
Accept that Learning Takes Time............................................................................................................................69
Semester Project .......................................................................................................................................................69
Appreciate the Complexities of Learning.......................................................................................................73
3. Formative Assessment............................................................................................................................. 73
Communication ...............................................................................................................................................................74
Re-write policy.................................................................................................................................................................75
4. Habituated Behavior................................................................................................................................. 76
Teach New Learning Habits Through Repeated Semester-Long Activities..........................................77
Discussion Boards ..........................................................................................................................................................77
The 3-2-1 Reflection Papers ......................................................................................................................................78
5. Andragogy..................................................................................................................................................... 79
Value Learner Experiences.........................................................................................................................................80
Multi-Age Groups......................................................................................................................................................81

28
6. Multi-media Learning............................................................................................................................... 81
Vary Activities to Enhance Recall............................................................................................................................82
7. Globalization ................................................................................................................................................ 82
Use the Global Schoolhouse. ......................................................................................................................................83
Challenges with Time Zones......................................................................................................................................84
8. Internet: Compliment or Competition?............................................................................................. 84
Space for Higher Order Thinking: A Shift to “Why” and “How” .................................................................85
Embrace Technology.....................................................................................................................................................86
Research and APA Formatting Help.................................................................................................................87
Summary of the Challenges in Modern University Education .............................................87
Benefits and Drawbacks to the New Instructional Design of Psyce 1609 .......................88
More or Less Work Than a Traditional Class? .................................................................................... 90
Instructional Design ................................................................................................................................................93
Front-end planning........................................................................................................................................................93
Grading..........................................................................................................................................................................95
The Shifting Role of University Professors........................................................................................... 95
Conclusions............................................................................................................................................98
Student Evaluation of Psyce 1609..................................................................................................99
References .................................................................................................................................102
Appendix A. Sampling of student time spent in course room .................................107
Appendix B. Semester project topics in the Neuroscience of Learning................109
Appendix C. Time spent preparing course (P=Professor; TA=Teaching Assistant)
.......................................................................................................................................................110
Appendix D. Time spent teaching and grading course ..............................................112
Appendix E. Weekly breakdown of teaching team work load.................................113
Appendix F. Re-write policy reminder sent in Announcements once a month.121
Appendix G. Scheduling difficulties with 100% online synchronous class ........122
Appendix H. Discussion Board Prompts .........................................................................123
Appendix I. 3-2-1 Instructions............................................................................................134
Appendix J. APA Word Template.......................................................................................135

29
Tables
Table 1. Gross Tertiary Enrollment by World Region................................................................................ 33
Table 2. Student Recommended Weekly Work Distribution .................................................................. 41
Table 3. Weekly Sections Psyce 1609 ............................................................................................................... 54
Table 4. Teacher Work Load Over the Semester.......................................................................................... 91
Graphs
Graph 1. Level of Education and Income. S..................................................................................................... 31
Graph 2. Earnings and unemployment by educational attainment...................................................... 32
Graph 3. Bundle Contents ...................................................................................................................................... 49
Graph 4. Example Chat Transcript ..................................................................................................................... 52
Graph 5. Sample Polling in Synchronous Class ............................................................................................. 53
Graph 6. Rubric for Discussion Boards............................................................................................................. 59
Graph 7. Weekly Topic Format............................................................................................................................ 64
Graph 8. Semester Project Submission Feedback Schedule .................................................................... 72
Graph 9. Example of Written Feedback........................................................................................................... 75
Graph 10. Example Discussion Board prompt............................................................................................... 78
Graph. 11. Student Evaluation: The Opportunity to Resubmit Assignments Key to Success .... 90
Graph 12. Level of Student Time Dedicated to Course and Level of Learning. Source: Week 14
Student Survey................................................................................................................................................. 92
Graph 13. Evolution of University Professor Skills Sets Over Past Century ..................................... 97

30
The Past, Present and Future of University Education
Abstract
Of all levels of education, university instruction has been the slowest to adjust to the
times. This paper documents the successful instructional design format of a course
offered in the Harvard University Extension School in Spring 2016 called The
Neuroscience of Learning. In addition to offering specific content, this course also sought
to take advantage of new information about how the brain learns and the ways in which
technology can be leveraged to improve university teaching. Students evaluated the
course highly as well as testified to how their long-term learning processes had changed
after undergoing the semester-long exercises. The paper begins by explaining the recent
history of university education and eight challenges that are forcing the modernization of
instruction at the tertiary level. It is recommended that lessons learned from this pilot be
replicated in additional classes to consider the instructional design applicability to other
subject areas.
University Teaching is Slow to Change
There is an inverse curve in educational levels and adaptation to what we know
about modern learning; early childhood educators generally appear to embrace novelty,
while university professors are often the most adverse to change (Tagg, 2012). There is
generally a high level of self-critique and monitoring that occurs in the early childhood
classroom and a relative openness to instructional novelty that appears to decrease on
the part of teachers as students move into higher levels of education. Tertiary education
has been the slowest to adjust to the demands of the modern learner, often ignoring
progress in educational technology and discoveries about how the brain learns, despite
the fact that these same discoveries are often made within universities themselves
(Keeling & Hersh, 2016).
The Benefits of a University Education

31
A university education remains the main path towards upward mobility.
According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, the average earning of a college graduate is more
than twice of a person without a high school degree, and someone with a doctorate
earns about four times as much as someone who doesn’t complete high school.
Graph 1. Level of Education and Income. Source: Bricker, Kennickell, Moore & Sabelhaus for the Federal
Reserve (2012, p.15)
College graduates are more likely to own homes, have savings, maintain a
retirement fund, own a car, have a stake in a business, own stocks, own insurance, have
less debt and average more than three times the net worth of those who have just some
college (Bricker, Kennickell, Moore & Sabelhaus 2012).
On virtually every measure of economic well-being and career attainment—from
personal earnings to job satisfaction to the share employed full time—young
college graduates are outperforming their peers with less education. (Pew
Research Center, 2016, para.1).

32
In the United States, the higher one’s education level, the lower the
unemployment rate and the higher the average salary (Graph 2).
Graph 2. Earnings and unemployment by educational attainment. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(2014).
College graduates also enjoy better midlife health (Walsemann, Bell & Hummer,
2012), and according to the Trends in Higher Education, this translates into less
smoking, less obesity, and more exercise in general (Baum, Ma & Payea, 2013).
Who Attends and Who Succeeds in University
The population of the world has less than doubled since 1970, yet higher
education has multiplied by more than six times in the same period (Marginson, 2016).
Since the 1990s, world college attendance has increased 1% annually, which coincides
with the belief that education is the key to social mobility, a universally perceived way
towards individual betterment, and a reflection of “economic modernisation
everywhere” (Marginson, 2016, para.2).
Roughly 32% of the world gets a university education. Over 76% of North
American and Western Europeans enroll in some form of tertiary education programs
ranging from two-year Associate, four-year Bachelor to five-year Engineering programs,

33
(Marginson, 2016, table 1, para.10), though in some cases less than half will actually
graduate with a degree (OECD, 2014). The United States has one of the highest
graduation rates in the world, though this varies drastically by university type, the
highest rates being for private non-profit institutions, which also have the highest
discrimination rates at admissions, and the lowest being for private for-profit
universities, which tend to have open admissions. According to the National Center for
Education Statistics
The 2013 6-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time undergraduate students
who began their pursuit of a bachelor's degree at a 4-year degree-granting
institution in fall 2007 was 59 percent….Among first-time, full-time
undergraduate students who began seeking a bachelor's degree at a 4-year
degree- granting institution in fall 2007, the 6-year graduation rate was 58
percent at public institutions, 65 percent at private nonprofit institutions, and 32
percent at private for-profit institutions. (U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics, 2015, p.235)
Table 1. Gross Tertiary Enrollment by World Region

34
Source: Marginson, 2016
The Role of Universities in Societies
There are economic, cost-benefit ration considerations that drive people’s
decisions about whether or not to attend university (Hulten & Ramey, 2015). Many
universities around the world have suffered criticisms of increased costs with little
innovation in methodologies to respond to ever more sophisticated consumers. The cost
of attending college has skyrocketed despite the increasing number of students in the
system, which has ironically driven prices up rather than down. According to the
College Board, “[t]he cost of college also has outpaced the median family income during
the last 30 years,” (Bidwell, 2014, para.10), and the U.S. Digest of Educational Statistics
(2011) notes that prices for undergraduate education at public institutions rose 42%
between 2001 and 2011 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). The ability to

35
adapt to students’ new ways of learning, such as through online courses that make
access more flexible, not only potentially serves the top third of individuals who can
make it into traditional college programs, but also serves 100% of people interested in
bettering themselves in professional training or for personal growth (Khan, 2013).
An interesting juxtaposition of contexts is visible in traditional university
structures that are notorious for keeping people out by celebrating low admission rates
and high selectivity, which is in contrast with the Internet that draws people in from all
backgrounds, social economic status and SAT-scores or GMAT-scores. When the first
MOOCs were launched it was found that some of the better students were those who
had never been admitted to college (see the experiences of Sebastian Thrun and Peter
Norvig who developed Stanford’s first MOOC in 2011 which registered 160,000
students and found that the top completing registrants were not Stanford’s own). While
new technologies have flattened the world of academic achievement and the access to
knowledge, there is a difference between what a MOOC can offer a learner (Yuan, Powell
& CETIS, 2013), and what adaptations to the new university learning environment can
provide through well-thought out instructional design in regular classrooms (Keengwe
& Kidd, 2010).
The role of universities in societies has served as being the hallmark for the best
and brightest of what a country can produce. Unfortunately, in recent years this has
changed. More and more of the best and the brightest are finding that universities do no
satisfy their thirst for knowledge as fast as their telephones or motivate their drive to
innovate as well as some YouTube videos might, and so they turn to informal means of
educating themselves. This phenomenon is not new and not only due to the Internet.
Over the decades many have left college to pursue “bigger” dreams. Some examples of
famous college dropouts include Bill Gates, Ansel Adams, Woody Allen, Steve Jobs,

36
Richard Branson, Michael Dell, Paul Allen, Walt Disney, William Faulkner, Benjamin
Franklin, Mark Zuckerberg, Ted Turner, Theodore Roosevelt, Pablo Picasso, Brad Pitt,
George Orwell, James Murdoch, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ralph Lauren, Abraham
Lincoln, Aviv Hadar, and Ernest Hemmingway. While the majority in this list are not
Millennials, they all share a sense of disenfranchisement from formal university
structures that many current coeds experience due to the lack of appropriate delivery
mechanisms for course content: they were not inspired by their learning environments.
Change is underfoot.
The “Millennial Learner” (Chong, Loh & Babu, 2015) is forcing higher education
institutions to rethink their offerings.
The fastest growing population in higher education is the Millennial adult
student. This is significant as more Millennial learners who have been out of
school for some years are turning to higher education institutions to start or
complete undergraduate or graduate degrees. Many pursue learning to be
competitive in the workforce, fulfill a professional requirement or enrich
themselves intellectually. (Chong, Loh & Babu, 2015, para.1)
While Millennials go to university for the same reasons as past generations, they
have a changing expectation of the university experience. Students still go to university
for the “academic discourse and the diversity of ideas” (Bowen & Schwartz, 2010), to
become “reflective practitioners, social critics and good citizens,” (Star & Hammer,
2008), and perhaps most importantly, to develop “innovation capacity” (Rasmussen,
Benneworth & Gulbrandsen, 2013), but they expect more than a lecture-based class
structure to do this.
Growing Into the Times: Changes Needed in Higher Education

37
The traditional structure of lecture-based education can be disagreeable to
students in the 21st century for multiple reasons. There are at least eight challenges to
university teaching, of which many university professors may be unaware. In the 21st
century there is:
(a) More knowledge about what influences student learning outcomes based on
longitudinal, comparative studies, which has yet to make its way into university
classrooms;
(b) More knowledge about how the brain learns, which is not well-understood by
many university instructors;
(c) The need for increased formative assessment for better learning outcomes;
(d) Better understanding about long-term, habituated, sustainable
methodologies that improve learning, which are not yet used in many university
classrooms;
(e) The need for improved teacher-learner communication, and an appreciation
of Andragogy and Digital classrooms at the university level;
(f) The need for universities to adapt to current economic and social
circumstances and markets that change learning environments;
(g) More and better options related to multimodal learning to enhance outcomes
which has yet to make its way into university classrooms;
(h) The need for universities to appreciate the benefits of a global academic
community and how this can enhance learning outcomes;
(i) The need for university professors to understand the difference between
information delivery, access, and management.

38
These challenges and the way they were responded to by the Neuroscience of
Learning (Psyce 1609) course at the Harvard University Extension School through its
unique instructional design format are explained below.
Reinventing the University Experience
What can universities do to reinvent their space in society? As with all
educational experiences, the single greatest factor influencing learning outcomes is the
quality of the teacher (Hattie, 2012). Enhancing the quality of the educational
experience depends primarily on the university professor’s ability to make learning an
exciting experience while instilling a long-term sustained habituated mindset about the
process of learning itself. Teacher effectiveness, however, is difficult to measure but it is
perhaps the most important factor to consider when improving education (Educational
Research Service, 2000; Hattie 2009, 2012; Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001;
Scheerens & Blömeke, 2016). Never before has so much been asked of teachers, and
even more so at the level of university education. Technology is assisting in this change.
Teachers must “up their game” to not only be better than a sophisticated Google search,
but to fulfill the purpose of the modern university as being a place of awe and
innovation.
Online Education
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), in Fall 2013
there were over 5.5 million students enrolled in distance education courses at degree-
granting post-secondary institutions in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Education, NCES,
2016). Of the nearly 3 million students in who studied for a post-Baccalaureate degree
in the U.S. (Masters or Doctorates), nearly one-fourth (23.3%; n=676,761) studied
100% online in 2013.

39
Online learning responds to social demands that are new to most university
professors. According to recent research at MIT, (Bonk, Lee, Kou, Xu & Sheu, 2015),
more students must work and study simultaneously in order to make ends meet; few
people have the money to be full-time students at the graduate level. Similarly, most
students don’t have the luxury of taking more than one or two classes at the same time
due to costs and personal obligations meaning their learning experience is spread out
over many years. Most also balance studies with family life and therefore require
flexible study time. Most students have limited blocks of time in which they can do
homework or meet with peers to advance their studies. If there is a synchronous
element to the course, every minute must be used to its upmost potential, which
requires detailed planning. Maximizing synchronous encounter time also demonstrates
respect for the students’ time, which is appreciated by Millennials who guard their free
time jealously. As said earlier, while the role of the university has not really changed—it
remains a stepping-stone to a better future and fosters more innovative thinking – the
conditions in which universities thrive need to change with the times (Spada, 2014).
Case Study: Psychology 1609 Harvard University Extension School
The Neuroscience of Learning: An Introduction of Mind, Brain, Health and
Education was a 15-week survey course with 15 topics. This was the fourth year the
professor had taught this course, but the first time in a 100% online format. The unique
design of this course permitted learners from nine different countries and eight of 50
states in the United States to participate in the two-hour a week live classes as well as to
learn independently and flexibly in a 24/7 open access platform as they completed
assignments. Learners ranged in age from 17 to 65 years old. Thirty-six percent (n=9)
were Graduate Students at Harvard; 60% were Undergraduates (n=15); and 4% (n=1)

40
took the course for non-credit. The course began with 35 learners and 26 successfully
completed the semester (74% completion rates).
An evaluation at week 14 of the 16-week course yielded a student satisfaction
rate with the course of 100% indicating they would recommend the course to others,
and 90% saying they both worked more but also learned more in this format than in
other classes of a similar length. Instructor evaluations assessed that the level of
research of the final projects were of higher academic written quality than in other
formats and yielded, in some cases, publishable documents. Individual written
evaluations (Appendix X) and in-class chat transcripts revealed both positive self-
reports of advances in learning, including the belief that they had learned “how to
learn,” as well as deep content knowledge. The students gave the course high praise for
its novel approach (4.94/5.0); many students went so far as to say they had never had
this type of a learning experience before in which they grew to intimately know their
classmates and themselves through unique reflection processes with the material and
teaching team.
Theoretical Framework: Visible Learning and 50 Best Practices
The Neuroscience of Learning (Psyce 1609) applied the theoretical framework of
Tokuhama-Espinosa’s work on 50 Best Practice Applications of Mind, Brain, and
Education Science (2013) to both select teaching topics as well as to design course
learning activities. Tokuhama-Espinosa’s work took John Hattie’s meta-analysis of more
than 900 meta-analyses on what influences student learning outcomes (2009) and
identified 47 of his 150 interventions, which are in the teacher’s realm of influence and
explains their neuropsychological underpinnings. Psyce 1609 adhered to the 47 best

41
practices as well as developed a new combination of teaching tools to maximize student
learning.
It is presumed that the course’s success as measured by student evaluations and
the quality of final projects was due to two primary factors: adherence to the 50 Best
Practices framework and the online platform medium that used a novel combination of
teaching and assessment tools, including quizzes, discussion boards, reflection prompts,
and a semester project. While these teaching tools have been used in the past at the
university level, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time this
combination of tools has been used in a synchronous online class that also incorporated
elaborated rubrics, extended office hours and modified content based on student needs
and entry levels by using a dynamic “mini-library” system for each topic.
Psychology 1609, The Neuroscience of Learning (Psyce 1609) differed from
traditional university experiences in its modality, which was 100% online with
obligatory synchronous class meeting time in a flipped format. The course design
required the teaching team spend a significantly greater amount of time prior to the
class start preparing the weekly videos and setting up the online course in Canvas than
a regular class, estimated to be the same amount of time it took to teach and grade the
course over the semester. This implies that the instructional design of the course was
equivalent to the actual course execution. There were benefits to so much front end
planning, however, as this allowed more attention to students’ learning needs and more
time for feedback during the actual execution of the course. A typical week in the course
from a student’s workload perspective is visualized in Table 2..
Table 2. Student Recommended Weekly Work Distribution

42
Source: Welcome video, Psyce 1609 Spring 2016, Harvard University Extension School, Tokuhama-Espinosa.
Students were encouraged to enter the learning platform daily and complete one
aspect of the course requirements at a time, averaging 15-30 minutes a day except for
synchronous classes and sections, which were two hours a daily and one hour a day
respectively. As illustrated by the tables in Appendix X, this meant the teaching team
was responsible for providing all the tools a student would need to find success, but the
onus of student learning fell squarely on the students themselves.
In addition to the required assignments, students were told they were expected
to spend double the amount of time of the required course doing outside independent
work.
Source: Author, Syllabus Psyce 1609 Spring 2016
This meant that students spent two hours in live synchronous classes, plus at
least four hours of independent study in which they watched the weekly videos,

43
completed the Discussion Board, worked on the Semester Project, or completed
readings or video assignments.
The Canvas course room permits a revision of student time within the platform,
and results suggest that most students went well beyond the 4-hour a week
expectations, as evidenced in Appendix A. To meet minimum requirements, students
should have spent 15 x 4 = 60 hours, at a minimum in the classroom. It was found that
there was a range of time spent in the classroom, with the least amount being 54 hours
and 32 minutes, and the most amount of time being 898 hours and 07 minutes. As Psyce
1609 came to a close, in Week 14 students requested ongoing access to the course
content. Many believed the bundles would help them with future work, others
commented that they felt they wanted to revisit some of the weekly videos to help make
changes in their professional roles, and yet others said they wanted to take time over
the holidays to continue reading up on areas of personal interest. The teaching team
secured ongoing access with Canvas managers and three months after the course ended,
more than half the students had logged in additional time in the course.
It should be noted that the total number of hours spent in the Canvas classroom
is only indicative of how much time was spent in an open Canvas window. This does not
represent the quality of time or use of resources in Canvas.
Backward Design
Psyce 1069 was developed using backward design, in which objectives were set,
criteria for evaluation determined, followed by the best activities, methodologies and
resources to achieve the goal. The teaching team prided itself on understanding the
teaching-learning process and on selecting the best methodologies possible for the set
objectives. Each week’s topics were carefully reviewed and after clear topic objectives
were aligned with course objectives, the teaching team selected evaluation and

44
assessment tools that would provide the best evidence of objective achievement. After
evaluation tools were chosen, the precise activities and resources were chosen.
Flipping the Classroom
This course used the flipped classroom methodology which requires learners to
watch the weekly video before coming to class in order to free up synchronous time for
student-centered polls, deeper discussion and application of weekly concepts. Flipping
at the university level has met with different degrees of success, primarily influenced by
the degree to which students actually watch pre-recorded information before the
synchronous class. In the final Psyce 1609 class students were asked to honestly say if
they had complied with the flipping request and over 80% confirmed having done so
100% of the time. This high rate of compliance coincides with other findings that
flipping success rates correlate with student preparation (O'Flaherty & Phillips, 2015).
Weekly Content Video
There were 13 weekly videos of approximately one hour each (which ranged
from 51:53 minutes to 1:32:00; average 59:39 minutes). There were also 16 Section
presentations created for this course. These videos were the essence of the flipped
classroom model and were provided at least a week before the live class interaction and
linked to the weekly course page.
The content of the weekly videos is what a normal university professor would
present in a face-to-face class, however, perhaps more precise due to editing. The one-
hour videos covered the basic topic information, including the history, main theorists
and current applications of the information for each week’s topic.
The instructional design of the Neuroscience of Learning responded to eight
challenges facing university education, explained below.

45
Eight Quality Teaching Talking Points
Teacher training is undergoing change around the world due to shifts in
technology, a better understanding about the brain and learning, and the overall
questioning of the roles of universities in modern societies. There are at least eight
talking points that merit university professors’ attention and around which Psyce 1609
was designed.
In order the teach in the best way possible, university professors need (a) a
better understanding of what really influences student learning outcomes (Hattie, 2009,
2012); (b) a better understanding of basic knowledge of the brain and learning (OECD,
2012); (c) a wider tool box of evaluation options (Boud & Molloy, 2013); (d) a clearer
understanding of the role of formative assessment and what this means about
restructuring course design (Entwistle, Karagiannopoulou, Ólafsdóttir & Walker, 2015);
(e) a greater appreciation that learning takes time and that university courses can play a
role in modifying habituated behavior that influences learning (Mezirow, 2000); (f) a
better understanding of how to teach adult learners (Knowles, Holton & Swanson,
2014); (g) how and why incorporating multi-media experiences can benefit learning
(Croteau, Venkatesh, Beaudry & Rabah, 2015); (h) a greater appreciation of how
globalization has changed the university landscape (Bonk, 2009); and finally (i) to
welcome, not fear technology and better understand how it can be leveraged in
university classrooms (Lloyd, Byrne & McCoy, 2012). A brief explanation of these
challenges and how they were met by the instructional design of Psyce 1609 follows.
1. What Influences Student Learning Outcomes
For the first time in the history of formal education, there are finally longitudinal
studies related to education, which indicate a clearer picture of what influences learning

46
outcomes for different types of students in different cultural contexts (e.g., Tucker-Drob
& Briley, 2014). Educational researchers such as John Hattie (2003; 2008; 2012; Hattie
& Yates, 2013) have managed to create a methodologically comparative scale, which
permits a vision of what influences student learning outcomes and which, in turn,
indicate what teachers can do to improve the level of learning by students. Hattie’s work
(2012) explains the types of interventions that all teachers should incorporate in their
education settings. These interventions were re-grouped into ten subtypes by
Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014 and are detailed below.
Enhance Student Self-Efficacy Through Appropriate Feedback.
In order to learn well, a student needs to believe that the teacher thinks he is
capable of learning. It was not long ago that professors believed their job was to know
their subject and share their insights; whether the student learned or not was not their
responsibility (Biggs, 2011). However, there are now studies that indicate that what a
student thinks the teacher thinks of her ability to learn can influence her outcomes in
class (Hattie, 2009). At a minimum, professors should convey their belief in students’
abilities to learn.
Psyce 1609 recognized the need for developing positive student self-efficacy and
self-concept by helping students believe in their own abilities to learn. Constant teacher
feedback and positive encouragement helped all learners believe in their own learning
potential. There was an explicit shared goal among the members of the teaching team to
encourage student self-efficacy wherever possible. This meant that instructions were
given to students to offer productive feedback to peers and teachers modeled this
behavior. This last decision, to teach to the strengths of the students, serves as a strong

47
motivational force and was a constant reminder of how each individual added
something to the course through their past experiences.
Offer Multiple Entry Points to Information.
Teachers must respect the individual hierarchy of knowledge developed by
learners before entering class and begin at the student’s starting point, independent of
what the syllabus indicates. It is not realistic to presume that all students will be able to
handle the same course material with the same level of sophistication, making it
necessary to accommodate faster and slower learners alike. All new learning passes
through the filter of prior experience (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014), meaning that what a
student knows before coming to class will have an impact on what she can potentially
learn within the class. Teachers need to leverage to help students fill in gaps of
knowledge before challenging them with higher order concepts. Psyce 1609 was
designed to respond to basic constructivist principles and began by acknowledging that
different students would begin the course from different starting points.
“Bundles” or Mini-libraries
The bundles provided dozens of different entry points to material and consisted
of links to journal articles, videos and podcasts that provided multiple entry points to
the material and were divided into three parts. These mini-libraries provided all of the
resources students needed for each week’s work.
The first part of the bundle was the link to the weekly video, which was required
viewing before the weekly synchronous class. The second part of the bundle offered a
short list of “Instructor Picks” or the top ten or so favorite resources of the teaching
team which captured the essence of the week’s topic in the best way possible, defined
core concepts, and/or explained core theories or seminal concepts of the theme at hand.

48
This third part of the bundle listed “Additional Resources” in which the teaching team
listed other videos, journal articles, and links to web pages or podcasts that explained
the theme of the week. The Additional Resources differed from the Instructor Picks in
that they were either less timely (older publications) or longer (the Instructor Picks
tended to be under an hour and the Additional Resources often lasted several hours).
Students were required to watch the weekly video and at least one of the Instructor
Picks (Grad students had to choose two), and all students were encouraged to watch or
read at least one listing under the Additional Resources before the synchronous class.
The bundles provided learners with easy access to high sources, but more
importantly, they permitted multiple entry levels to the information. If learners took the
initiative, they would be able to “top off” their understanding of the topic to the

50
required course level, independent of their prior knowledge. The multiple entry
points to the information meant there was a high level of differentiated instruction
throughout: A student who knew nothing about the topic of the week at the start was as
well served by the bundles as a student who was a near expert on the topic. This meant
that all students were able to come to the weekly synchronous class prepared to cite
credible references and participate actively in the discussion. Access to the bundles
meant that all students were able to participate actively in the multiple topics presented
in the live class, independent of their starting point by essentially leveling the playing
field of prior knowledge. Individual students entered different bundles with different
frequencies based on their needs and areas of interests. For example, on some weeks a
student might read almost all of the suggested resources, and other weeks the same
student might only do the required readings. In short, the bundles provided the
opportunity to meet with success in the class and to differentiate instruction.
Additionally, the bundles put the onus on students to fill in their own gaps: the
students who needed more rehearsal with the information would read or watch various
renditions of the content. Those who already “knew” the basic information were able to
delve deeper into more sophisticated sources. This meant that there was an added
benefit of the bundles, which was that they permitted the teacher the luxury of
presuming all students had the same level of basic core knowledge upon which to plan
the live synchronous class. Experienced teachers know how difficult it is to attend to the
needs of a few students who appear to lag behind, while keeping those well ahead
entertained as they focus on the “average”. The instructional design of this course freed
up the teacher’s focus and permitted more time to be dedicated to teaching, as opposed
to managing learner needs or expectations.

51
Synchronous Class
Over the course of the semester there were 15 synchronous class sessions.
Students were required to attend 10 of the 15 sessions “live” or in synchronous time,
though a significant number of students attended all 15 classes in synchronous time and
one student was given permission to watch all 15 classes via video due to a health
problem.
All live classes were also recorded and saved into the Canvas platform.
Surprisingly, many students who attended the live class who did not have an obligation
to watch the videos also did so. Students commented that they reviewed the recorded
classes because there was so much going on between the live exchange and the chat
boards that they needed to return to the video or the chat transcript to take additional
notes.
Live Chat
Many students felt there was an abundance of information shared during the live
class and were thankful for the chance to be able to “re-live” the experience not only
through the video but also through the transcript of the discussions that occurred in the
chat box in parallel to the live class. Many students mentioned they felt there was a
parallel course going on through this “back channel” entrance to the live class
information in which students shared multiple resources, clarified terms, mentioned
additional resources and encouraged each other and thanked one another for bringing a
new angle to the material. An example of the chat discussion in parallel with the live
class can be found in Graph 4.

52
Graph 4. Example Chat Transcript
The chat aspect of the live class is another unique aspect to the instructional
design of the course. In traditional classrooms students are generally discouraged from
talking behind the instructor’s back or having parallel conversations while the live class
is occurring, whereas in this course it was the opposite and students were actually
encouraged to share in this way. The chat also permitted students with connectivity
issues (no mics, or cameras) to actually participate in class in an active way.
The synchronous classes also took advantage of the Adobe course room to hold
an average of seven polls or surveys per weekly encounter. These polls were used to
stimulate debate in the live class and successfully create entry points for learners in the
discussion. An example of the polls is seen below:

53
Graph 5. Sample Polling in Synchronous Class
It is also interesting to note that the Chat contributed to the personalization of
the course. Students were always called upon by name and responded to on an
individual level, usually by more than one learner or instructor (Bernstein-Yamashiro &
Noam, 2013). Many mistakenly believe that online courses lack personal contact,
however Psyce 1609 student evaluations indicated that the caring teacher-student
relationships were part of the course highlights.
Sections
In traditional classes sections are used to clarify what happened in the live
classes and are usually run by TAs. In this course, the sections were used as an hour to
delve deeper into a specific aspect of the topic of the week and normally run by the
Instructor or TAs. As this was a broad survey course, the sections provided additional

54
depth to the topics. A list of the weekly topics and the corresponding sections is found in
Table 3.
Table 3. Weekly Sections Psyce 1609
Week Live Class Sections Instructor TA1 TA2
Week 1 Introduction Classroom Tour X
Week 2 Neuroanatomy Neuromyths X
Week 3 Plasticity Neurotransmitters X
Week 4 Chronological Ages, Cognitive
Stages and Prior Experiences
Sensitive Slopes vs. Critical
Periods
X
Week 5 Metacognition and
Mindfulness
Metacognitive Awareness
Inventory
X X
Week 6 Theories of How the Brain
Learns
Universal Design for
Learning
X
Week 7 Affective Neuroscience Stress X
APA formatting P
Week 8 HOLIDAY
Week 9 Language Dyslexia; Bilingual and
Multilingual “edge”
X X
Week 10 Executive Functions Developing EFs in Children X
Week 11 Attention Meditation X
Week 12 Memory The Seven Sins of Memory X
Week 13 Mind-Body Connection The Role of Sleep and
Dreaming in Learning
X
Week 14 Theory of Mind and Cultural
Neuroscience
Studies of Asian and
Western brains
X
Week 15 Neuroethics
Week 16 Future Directions and Course
Evaluation
How to Publish X

55
The sections were also used as a way to differentiate grading between
undergraduate and graduate students in the course. Graduate students were required to
attend at least five sections in synchronous fashion, and watch all remaining sections via
video. Undergraduates had no such requirement and sections were optional. It is
interesting to note, however, that many undergraduates attended sections due to their
personal interest in the topic at hand, and because the information was useful in their
semester projects. Additionally, many stated they enjoyed attending sections because
they were an opportunity to share in smaller group settings.
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Credibility and Intellectual Humility.
Credibility is key to learning; students who do not believe that their professor
can provide new knowledge, insights, or visions, will not spend time on the learning
task as this is in contradiction to the reasons they attend university classes in the first
place (Hattie, 2008). Students quickly and almost unconsciously judge whether or not
they find the professor credible and worthy of their time (Argyle, 2013). Planning,
preparedness, and intellectual humility on the part of the professor gain teacher
credibility, as does managing the class in a way that the students’ contributions can add
to the group knowledge about the topic (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014).
No one owns the truth. The teaching team of Psyce 1609 adopted an
intellectually humble approach to the course, rejecting the all too common “sage on the
stage” metaphor and opting for a group learning mentality. Intellectual humility
enhances credibility in the students’ eyes while validating opinions that often differed
from the team’s views (Samuelson, Jarvinen, Paulus, Church, Hardy & Barrett, 2015).
The teaching team sought to model good learner characteristics. For example, teachers
must never stop learning (“he who dares to teach must never cease to learn” as Dana

56
Cotton is attributed with saying). While many university professors recognize the need
to remain up to date in their field of formation, few take the same amount of time to
refine their teaching abilities from year to year. Experience is beneficial, however,
proactive learning about teaching adults (androgigcal practices) is even more effective
in improving university teaching skills (Darling-Hammond, 2013). Professors who take
the time to self-assess their skills in the classroom are ranked higher than those who do
not take the time to learn from their mistakes. The instructors approached teaching
moments as learning moments. At the end of the course all three members of the
teaching team shared testimonials as to the personal growth they experienced as the
semester progressed.
Create a Community of Learners
There was a concerted effort made by the teaching to create a community of
learners. Senge writes that there can be powerful individual learning moments when
organizations learn (2006). The teaching team devised multiple activities that required
exchanges between learners, including Discussion Board and peer feedback activities.
By taking advantage of adult learner experiences, the group gained and individuals
learned. The teaching team decided to work for “Engagement” instead of “Management”.
Teachers need to understand the role of student motivation in learning and manage
exchanges and activities in a dynamic way. The ability to engage multiple learners, keep
the group on task, quiet disturbances and encourage silent voices to participate are all
part of good classroom management (Hattie, 2009). In older times, professors sensed
that their job was to deliver information and it was up to the students to choose to
engage or not. Now much of successful classroom management relies on planning and
the appropriate use of technology and multi-media resources to create the possibility of

57
high student engagement (Marzano & Pickering, 2013). To enhance engagement and
reduce the need for management, in Psyce 1609 precise planning was used so that
every moment of the course was used well, which left little time for distraction.
Create a Culture that Welcomes Evaluation.
Teachers must provide multiple pathways to learning competencies and
recognize that not all students will react to all teaching strategies in the same way. It is
clear that students who are open to corrections learn faster (Hattie, 2013); open
attitudes towards constructive feedback speeds up the rate of learning. However, many
students have had this openness to criticism stunted by years of negative corrections
from classroom teachers that block their ability to learn from their mistakes. University
professors are challenged with habituating new reactions to feedback mechanisms and
helping students embrace corrections.
Learning from one’s mistakes and “dare to err” were core teaching-learning
concepts in Psyce 1609. Students were given multiple opportunities to re-write work,
permitting a cycle of learning that was perpetually formative. This course worked hard
to create a culture of evaluation that viewed assessment as a welcome and necessary
element in learning, not one to be feared: Dare to err was a theme of all teacher-student
interactions. Students were encouraged to challenge teacher perspectives and were
praised for approaching topics from new or distinct perspectives. One way the course
created a positive culture of evaluation was through high frequency assessments.
Students became accustomed to the weekly cycle of homework, feedback, corrections
and improvements so that their resistance to evaluation decreased as the semester
advanced. The sheer number of assignments coupled with the personalized feedback

58
from the instructional team helped learners reduce their anxiety about feedback and
enhance their personal interest to learn from pointed commentaries about their work.
Use Evaluation Tools that Respond to the Course Objectives.
Psyce 1609 differed from many typical university experiences in both in form
and frequency (55 graded elements in more than 99 submissions) of evaluation tools.
Clear objectives were identified for each week’s topics and agreed upon by the teaching
team before the semester began. This permitted the selection of appropriate evaluation
tools that matched learning objectives. This meant that the time spent in class was
focused on the students and not on general planning.
Teachers must broaden their repertoire of evaluation and assessment tools to
respond to different learning competencies. Different evaluation tools measure different
types and levels of learning. A multiple-choice test can efficiently measure a student’s
understanding of dates, facts, figures, and formulas, but is inefficient in measuring
critical thinking. A long-term project is efficient in measuring progress in student
understanding and depth of knowledge, but takes more time to review. A class debate is
efficient in measuring argumentative skills, teamwork, vocabulary and concept
understanding, but may not be the best tool to measure research skills. Many university
professors remain content in using a single final exam at the end of term as a measure of
learning, which can be defended if all that was learned was at a level of definitions and
conceptual understanding. However, many Millennials note that this kind of information
is readily available on the Internet and insist university classes should go beyond this
level of freely available information.
Rubrics

59
There were rubrics constructed for the three graded class element: (a)
Discussion Boards; (b) 3-2-1 reflection papers; and the (c) semester project
submissions. There were no rubrics for the quizzes as they were self-graded and
multiple choice. Rubrics were design based on McTighe’s theoretical framework and
included descriptors for each range (Graph 6).
Graph 6. Rubric for Discussion Boards
Written Feedback
In addition to receiving descriptive rubric feedback for each assignment,
students also received extensive written feedback for all submitted work. Discussion
Board feedback could be written in the form of an exchange within the week’s
Discussion Board platform, or in private through the grading page.
Teachers gave feedback to students through the 3-2-1 reflections, which served
to motivate continued research in areas of interest as well as to correct misconceptions.
For example, if a student indicated that they had learned something, which was not an

60
accurate expression of the topic, then the instructor took the time to correct those
errors in the private graded feedback that accompanied the grade for that assignment.
If students indicated an interest in a topic in their 3-2-1 reflections, teachers took
the time to suggest additional resources to encourage their study. Feedback for the
semester project submissions was usually extensive in nature. Both form as well as
content comments were made using Track Changes within the Word document and
these comments were often copied and shared on the grading page. During course
evaluations students praised the extensive feedback they received and noted that this
element of the course was instrumental in improving their learning outcomes.
Oral Feedback
Students were also given oral feedback in individual sessions when they
attended the Office Hours. Oral feedback was given during Office Hour exchanges with
students, and also during live class encounters in which exceptional contributions were
called out. The teaching team made a point to teach to the strengths of the students and
celebrate their contributions, and to correct errors in the most diplomatic and private
ways possible.
Self-Critique
Bi-Weekly Teaching Team Meetings. The teaching team met once a week, usually
the Monday or Tuesday before the Thursday live class. This permitted the team to
regroup and consider what had gone well and what needed improvement for the
coming week, as well as share concerns about students and the roles each person would
play in the upcoming live class.
Grade “Juntas”: The teaching team met twice in the Adobe course room during
the semester to consider midterm grades and final grades. The team reviewed the grade

61
book and shared personal contact (email or office hours) with individual students to see
if any accommodations were needed. For example, in the case of one student whose
mother had recently undergone cancer treatment, the team agreed to give her
extensions on the graded work for a specific period of time. These meetings assumed
that the team as a whole delivered a single message.
Appropriate Methodologies.
Teachers should keep abreast of the best methodologies to convey their subject
matter. Some professors are famous for teaching the same class for ten or twenty years
in an unvarying way. This inertia does not resonate well with Millennials who are
accustomed to a variety of entry points to the same information (e.g., 100 different
renditions of a song; thousands of explanatory videos on the same concept; millions of
opinions on controversial topics). Different methodologies respond to different teaching
objectives. Direct lecture delivery of course content is useful when the professor is
offering unique insights, summaries or theories on a topic and students are expected to
memorize information. Lecture delivery is not as efficient when the goal is to make
thinking skills visible, challenge ideas, or evoke innovative perspectives (Ritchhart,
2015). (There are two main problems with lecture-based teaching: few professors are
truly so knowledgeable that students hang on their every word, and too many of us
think we are that professor!) Each class lesson must be associated with a specific
objective, and then appropriate methodologies should be used to reach that objective.
Many professors understand the importance of choosing appropriate research
methodologies when they undertake a study, unfortunately, fewer take the time to
assure that the teaching methodology they choose is appropriate to the class objectives.

62
Psyce 1609 used multiple methodologies, each element aligned with course
objectives. In addition to flipping, the course enjoyed debates, surveys, discussions, peer
exchanges, written reflections and research projects.
Accessibility and Communication.
Teachers should keep multiple lines of communication open with students in
order o curtail problems and promote learning opportunities (Cornelius-White, 2007).
In previous decades, university professors were permitted a wall between themselves
and students, normally formed by Teaching Assistants or secretaries and the elitism and
inaccessibility of professors was part of the academic allure. Today, students are used to
accessing information on a 24/7 schedule and feel stifled when professors delay in
responding to queries, whether this be by email or face-to-face. Professors are faced
with employing appropriate channels of communication to respond in a timely manner
to student needs; traditional, physical office hours can be a part of this, but they are no
longer enough.
The Canvas email and Adobe course rooms were the sole channels of
communication (no private email use), in order to assure that all meetings were
documented for future reference. In Psyce 1609 teachers checked Canvas emails daily
and responded within 12 hours. The Announcement section was also used with
frequency; 37 announcements were made over the 15-week period. Most were
reminders about deadlines but others were to offer additional resources to learners and
or to make adjustments to the calendar.
The Instructor as well as both TAs had office hours, which consisted of an hour
each week within the Adobe classroom where they could meet with students. The office
hours of the different team members were deliberately scheduled at different times of

63
the day and week in order to provide the opportunity for people in different time zones
to take advantage of one-on-one exchanges. Additionally, students were encouraged to
make appointments via email if they were unable to attend office hours. In some cases,
both the Instructor and a TA met with a student when the student requested such a
feedback session. Additionally, conversations with students were shared with all
members of the teaching team through bi-weekly meetings and/or through notes in the
student grade book.
Finally, some adjustments were made to the course in the earlier weeks of the
class-based on student feedback to the teaching team. There were multiple queries
about the same instructions with one of the semester project assignments, for example,
as well as about the APA writing format. To improve communication about these two
elements of the class, an explanatory video was made by the Instructor to assure
everyone shared the same information. This new video was announced an students
were asked to review this in addition to regular course work.
Clear Instructions
Every week of the semester had the same format. As Goodyear notes (2013),
consistency in instructional design aids learners in their ability to maneuver the digital
classroom with the greatest amount of ease. Each week introduced the “Main Topics”
and centered learners on the “Big Ideas” of those topics. These were followed by a list of
“Weekly assignments,” which adhered to the same pattern of seven or eight activities
each week. The weekly instructions also indicated the “Section(s)” offered for that week.
An example of the resources given to the students in any given week can be seen in
Graph 7 and all weekly home pages can be found in Appendix H.

64
Graph 7. Weekly Topic Format
Repetition
The same instructions for assignments could be found in multiple places. The
syllabus, the Assignments section of the course, the Announcement section, the Course
Calendar and Grade Book all provided the same information about assignments and due
dates. This extensive repetition was easy to design in Canvas by linking activities and it
enhanced the probability of on-time submissions. Additionally, there was a 10% penalty
for late assignments of any kind, adding additional motivation for timely submissions.
Value Group Learning.
Teachers should take advantage of the social nature of human learners and use
all members of the class community to reinforce content learning (Kolb, 2014). Adult
learners come to class with a wealth of information gained from life and work

65
experience, and this can be used to facilitate group learning. In former times it was
acceptable to consider the professor the single knowledge source on a subject area, but
this is no longer true in modern classrooms. Similar to the medical profession,
professors can no longer presume they know more than the patient. Rather than lament
the fall of the “sage on the stage” professors should learn to capitalize on the wealth of
knowledge within the classroom. This requires that professors structure discussions
and small group exchanges differently than in the past. More strikingly, however,
professors must change their view of their role in the classroom. Great teaching no
longer looks like preaching, rather it appears to be more like a team sport.
The teaching team in Psyce 1609 approached the course with the idea that the
entire community would both teach and learn during the semester. That is, instructors
and students alike shared instructional roles and were required to give feedback to
guide others’ learning. This perspective also valued the collective contributions of the
group knowledge and new resources from students were added to the bundle
throughout the semester.
2. Knowledge of the Brain and Learning
A second challenge is that we now know more about how the brain learns than
ever before in human history, and this is just beginning to be put to work in university
settings. What triggers motivation? What methodologies catalyze the right levels of stress
to motivate learning? Which strategies create the amount of repetition necessary to
ensure memory formation? How can teachers get student attention? While knowledge
about the brain is still in its infancy, there is enough information available to establish
six basic principles about how the brain learns (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2013). These six
principles should be used to guide teaching-learning design.

66
Take Advantage of Prior Knowledge.
All new learning passes through the filter of prior experiences (Lewis &
Williams, 1994; Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2008). Teachers should capitalize on what
students already know to teach new material. This also means they need to provide
opportunities to fill in gaps of knowledge that students might have before they teach
higher order concepts.
The teaching team not only embraced this principle, but also accepted the
heterogeneity of the students who would be in the room as an opportunity as opposed
to a burden. As a certain level of repetition is necessary for recall and learning to occur,
and as prior experiences influence how much new repetition a student needs, the
teaching team created the opportunities for students to review information in multiple
formats and the number of times each individual needed. The bundles created multiple
entry points and levels, which provided students with the resources necessary,
independent of different starting point.
Accept Individual Differences.
Individual brains are differently prepared to learn different tasks (Tokuhama-
Espinosa, 2013). It is not realistic to expect that all students be equally prepared for all
tasks demanded of them in class. Both nature and nurture come into play in learning
potential. Knowing this, teachers need to gauge expectations accordingly while
maintaining high standards. Teachers must also make accommodations for learners in a
way that helps reach educational norms, but that also create the opportunity to display
their understanding in multiple ways.
By using multiple modalities (readings, videos, podcasts, etc.) at different levels
of academic sophistication (peer review, popular press), Psyce 1609 accepted the idea

67
that different learners were going to find different aspects of the course more
challenging than others.
Ensure Activities that Enhance Memory and Attention.
Learning depends on memory and attention (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014).
Without memory there is no learning and without attention there is no learning, which
means that professors must create lessons that both capture attention and are
memorable.
Psyce 1609 recognized that both memory and attention are needed for learning
to occur. Therefore, the course created multiple ways to reinforce memory, for example.
through the opportunity to review recorded videos of live class sessions and chats.
Attention was enhanced by motivating personal interest in Discussion Boards, calling on
students at will during synchronous classes and discussing points of most personal
interest to create authentic learning structures.
Differentiate Among Students’ Needs
Human brains are as unique as human faces (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2013). While
humans tend to have the same parts in their brains, there are no two that are identical.
It is theorized that this is due to the unique experiences of each individual that are
responsible for establishing precise neural pathways for each type of learning.
Psyce 1609 celebrated the individual nature of learning by encouraging students
to identify personal risk and protective factors after each topic and to do so through
within their own cultural lenses, their jobs and their life styles. The unique individual
experiences of each learner were used as a starting point of discussion and celebrated
the multiple visions provided by students around the world.

68
Adaptations were offered to students with different learning needs, family
situations or life circumstances. For example, during the Spring of 2016 there were
students who had recently suffered strokes, recuperated from addiction, suffered family
illness, and were experiencing eating disorders. Others experienced family moves,
including changes of country and extensive travel for work. To be consistent, the
teaching team met to discuss each situation and documented all agreed upon
accommodations in the Grade Book notes.
Test to Enhance Learning
The weekly quiz, like all other elements of the graded work, could be taken
multiple times, and in fact, students were encouraged to take it until they reached 100%
for each week. The different instances of taking the quiz served different learning goals.
First, students were asked to take the quiz before watching the weekly video or review
the contents of the bundle for the week. This was done to determine the student’s
general baseline level of knowledge before anything was learned in the class. The
teaching team wanted to document what students already knew about the information
before they learned from the course materials. This also served to prime the students
for information they should be on the lookout for as they watched the video or read the
weekly required articles. The students were then encouraged to take the quiz a second
time after watching the weekly video and doing the readings before the live class. This
was meant to determine if the readings and videos supplied sufficient information and if
the quality of the questions were reflective if the bundle resources. Finally, they were
prompted to take the quiz yet again after the live class if they needed to improve their
scores. This was done to see if the clarifications made in class had a favorable impact on
learning. Some students took the quiz multiple times, and others just a few. The

69
frequency ranged from once to 25 times per quiz per student per week. These were
scored automatically in Canvas and required no instructor interventions.
Video Access
There were three kinds of videos afforded the students in Psyce 1609. First, as a
flipped classroom, there were weekly class videos. Second, there were recordings of the
synchronous class encounters. And third, there were complimentary videos used to
support topic exploration, which were included in the bundles. Permanent access
permitted students to review any of these videos, in whole or part, multiple times,
rewinding as many times as necessary to comprehend core ideas.
Accept that Learning Takes Time.
The brain is a complex, dynamic and integrated system that is constantly
changed by experience (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2013). Changes in the brain take place at a
microscopic level before changes in behavior occur. This means that it can take multiple
exposures to information before new connections are made in the brain, and then even
longer before that translates into changes in behavior. This means that professors need
to provide sufficient time for learning to show itself.
Psyce 1609 both taught about learning processes, including typical amounts of
time or most effective methods, as well as used these same concepts to teach. The
teaching tea embarked the idea that knowing how one’s brain learns was helpful in
learning itself. Week 2 of the course embarked upon an explicit explanation of the
neuroanatomy of learning, and throughout the course, which was reinforced in each
topic.
Semester Project

70
As this course was a broad survey of multiple topics related to the neuroscience
of learning, the semester project was an opportunity to research deeper into a specific
area of interest. However, perhaps more importantly, the semester project was a chance
to habituate a process of how to reflect, research and learn about complex themes in the
course in a structured format that could be used beyond the class and throughout their
lives.
Many of the students commented that they had not had a specific course or
guidance on how to do basic research before Psyche 1609 and that the semester project
feedback they received gave them the skills sets needed to feel like competent
researchers. Students were taught how to choose a research question, how to judge the
type and sources of information that are good and bad, and how to analyze the quality
of the amassed information to reach conclusions and solve problems in this field. A
support video was made to help the students understand the academic writing format,
submission dates and overall research process, which many said was helpful in
understanding the “why” behind many of the requirements.
The students submitted their semester projects in five parts for which they
received instructor feedback, and they also received comments from their peers on both
their topic choice at the beginning of the semester and on their final submissions at the
end of the semester. The students were encouraged to read the peer feedback and they
received and, if necessary, modify elements of their semester project. They were then
given the opportunity to resubmit their final paper based on the feedback they had
received from their peers and from the teaching team. Required graded elements
included:
• Submission 1 (week 3): Identify a topic of interest, a problem within that
topic, and articulate a clear research question.

71
• Submission 2 (week 5): Clarify research resources and write an annotated
bibliography.
• Submission 3 (week 7): Group the literature from the annotated bibliography
into thematic sets and outline the literature review.
• Submission 4 (week 9): Analyze the information gathered so far. How does
the group body of knowledge change your vision of your research question.
What new information or questions come out of this global vision of the
research question. Students were reminded that this section, along with the
conclusions section, was the most important part of the paper as it is where
their original voices and perspectives on the existing literature came through.
• Submission 5 (week 11): Answer the research question and reach
conclusions in order to make recommendations for future studies. This
submission also asked the students to consider their own shortcomings in
their research. What are the limitations of what they are submitting? What
new recommendations exist for necessary studies in the future to really get to
the answer to the research question? The students then grouped submissions
1-5 and submitted their final paper.
• Resubmissions (week 13): Students were invited to use the feedback they
received from their peers and the teaching team to resubmit their final
projects.

72
Graph 8. Semester Project Submission Feedback Schedule
The multiple corrections enabled students to further refine their thinking,
research process and general writing throughout the semester. This also meant that the
final submissions were of particularly high quality. The teaching team agreed to adopt
the idea that “writing is a form of thinking “and the ability to express ideas in written
form was highly valued in the course.
A significant number of learners spoke English as a second or third language
(approximately 25%). They were grateful for the corrections they received in content,
academic writing as well as proper English, and used the resubmissions possibilities to
continually improve their work both in content as well as in form. Some students said
their opportunity to talk about their findings and to explore ideas with peers, TAs, and
the instructor provided insights into the state of the research on their chosen topics and
improved their understanding of the research process as well. The teaching team
estimates that there were also six semester papers that were worthy of publication and,
therefore, offered a final optional section on How to Publish in week 16. The variety of
topics in Mind, Brian, Health and Education is numerous, and the topics submitted
reflected the great variety of course interests (see Appendix B). The majority of the final
Semester Projects were submitted in written form and ranged from 14-40 pages in APA
format. Graduate students were also required to submit a 5-minute video summary of
their research in addition to the written work.

73
Appreciate the Complexities of Learning.
The brain is plastic (Pascual-Leone, Amedi, A., Fregni, & Merabet, 2005). The
human brain is malleable and can learn throughout the life span. Neuroplasticity
explains both why new learning transpires as well as how recuperation of lost skills
occurs. The teaching team both taught as well as used the celebration of exceptional
cases of recuperation and neuroplasticity to motivate learners about their own potential
to roadblocks. Many students in Psyce 1609 presumed their advanced age or prior
experiences limited their potential to learn, and were both relieved and enthused at the
idea that they could influence their own potential by managing risk and protective
factors in their lives.
3. Formative Assessment
A third challenge to university professors is that formative assessment is not as
common in courses as needed to facilitate sustained learning (Popham, 2005). In order
to learn, one needs to know what one does not yet know, and the best way to learn this
is through feedback from someone who knows more. One of the most popular forms of
grading in universities remains the exam (Vigo, Brown & Conway, 2013). Exams are
often graded with a single mark and sometimes with no explanation or feedback
whatsoever, though the use of rubrics has become more frequent over the past decade
(Reddy & Andrade, 2010). Rarely are students treated to personalized feedback
sessions in which errors in thinking, conceptualization, or logic are talked through with
them. This is due, in part, to the structure of the traditional lecture halls in which dozens
if not hundreds, of students listen to a professor and are told to save the questions for
the smaller sections, which are normally run by grad students. These TAs vary in
quality, but are often chosen for their subject area knowledge, not for their teaching

74
abilities. This means that they can often talk through the errors and questions with
students, but may not know how to give feedback in the best way to optimize new
learning. Multiple-choice exams are frequently used in university teaching because they
are the easiest to grade, are efficient in measuring content knowledge (dates, facts,
formulas, concepts, personalities, etc.) and do so with low cost. Multiple-choice exams
are not, however, good measures of critical thinking (Paul & Elders, 1992). The course
design employed formative, embedded assessment, or the choice of learning activities,
which were themselves evaluated. Each tool listed below was both a teaching tool as
well as an instrument of evaluation.
Communication
This course was designed on the premise that there are multiple factors that
combine to aid learning. One way that people learn is from their mistakes, which is why
this course gave students the opportunity to improve submissions after receiving
feedback and an initial grade. The formative-embedded assessment model meant many
changes in the way students were evaluated:
• There were no end-of-semester exams, but rather a semester long project;
• Each quiz was meant to instruct as well as prime for future learning and
could be retaken multiple times;
• Feedback received in the discussion boards could be used to formulate
new arguments and revise submissions;
• The 3-2-1 reflections documented each students’ learning after each class.
Students were given additional resources to feed their curiosity based on
their reflections.

75
On a weekly basis, students received feedback from the teaching team at least
four to seven times.
Re-write policy
Another unique element of this course was the “infinite” rewrite policy within a
specific timeframe. Students were allowed to re-write work they felt they could improve
upon based on the feedback within each four-week period. At the end of each month,
students were reminded of this policy and told to review their work for the previous 4-
week period and resubmit anything they were able to improve upon. Approximately
80% of assignments were resubmitted each month. This created a different type of
workload for the teaching team, but ensured a focus on improving student learning
outcomes throughout the semester. While permitting re-writes was more work than
traditional classes require, this was one of the most important ways in which the
students testified to better learning in the end-of-course evaluation. A large part of
learning is being able to identify mistakes and being given the chance to correct these
mistakes. This course presumed that students would need to learn how to self-correct
in order to grow, and therefore worked the re-write schedule into the class design.
It is important to note that corrections to student’s written work were given in
the form of questions, rather than handing them the right answer. An example of this
can be seen in Graph 9.
Graph 9. Example of Written Feedback
By giving feedback in this way, the learner was given the opportunity to accept or
reject the suggested changes while forcing a deeper reflection on the written content.

76
This created a level of autonomy and the learner was empowered to decide to learn
from mistakes or to ignore the comments. The questioning format also encouraged the
learner to begin to habituate typical self-questioning mechanisms (metacognition),
which forced a change of habituated review of the course material.
There were consequences to ignoring corrections offered in the feedback,
however. Students who were given feedback but who did not take the time to make
meaningful corrections did not improve on their grade, and in some cases their mark
went down as there was a 10% penalty for re-writes due to the tardiness of submission.
This meant that students did not automatically improve their grades by resubmitting
work, but rather had to consciously change content or format elements to improve their
mark. There was a penalty for re-writing in order to encourage students to meet
original deadlines. The “timeliness” of submission (Graph 6) was penalized when a
student re-wrote their Discussion Board entries, for example. This meant students who
took the time to learn from their errors were generally rewarded, but also penalized for
not submitting a “perfect” entry the first time around. Tolerance for repeated mistakes,
however, was low. (Students were told they could make as many mistakes as necessary
in their re-writes, but they had to be different ones from their original errors!) This
meant that those who made the same mistakes twice were penalized.
4. Habituated Behavior
A fourth challenge for university professors is that sustained learning
experiences require long-term projects that include enough repetition to change
habituated behavior. Many university classes still rely on exams at the end of the
semester as the test of learning (Redecker & Johannessen, 2013). Paul (1992) showed
that multiple-choice tests are rarely the best measure of critical thinking, however. If

77
the assessment tool is designed to measure learning simply dates, facts, and formulas,
then one should question if this “Googleable” knowledge is really what college students
are paying to learn. The brain needs multiple experiences with information before it
“knows” it (Marzano, 2011). The amount of repetition needed per individual varies
based on the past experiences of each learner (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2013). Someone
with many past experiences with prerequisite knowledge will need fewer repetitions
than someone with no prior knowledge of the topic. (This is why a student who has
been read to from birth will learn to read faster than one who was not read to, and why
someone who knows how to add will learn to subtract faster.) University professors are
rarely faced with a completely homogeneous group of students all prepared to learn
from the same starting point, meaning they may have to retrain or re-habituate basic
study skills with which students come to class.
Teach New Learning Habits Through Repeated Semester-Long Activities
Study skills are learned over time. Psyche 1609 recognized that it takes time to
break bad habits and even more time to form new ones. The “3-2-1” exercises
habituated a new way to reflect on new learning each week. Discussion Boards followed
a patterned process of review, research, response and reflection each week, which
encouraged new way to approach problems and opinion sharing.
Discussion Boards
The Discussion Boards were the primary way the students learned from one
another. The Discussion Board instructions required the students to first reply to a
prompt (often a statement, quote or controversial position) on the weekly topic. They
were given a strict 250-word limit and told they should draw from both personal

78
experiences as well as the literature to support their ideas. They were then asked to
reply to the posts of at least two other learners in a substantial way.
The teaching team sought to create intriguing prompts that piqued the curiosity
of the students, and which also relied heavily on the bundle resources. This meant that if
the student had not done the required readings and viewings, it would become obvious
in their Discussion Board replies. Graduate students were required to cite sources from
the bundle or otherwise, and undergraduates were given extra points when they did so.
Over the course of the semester there were over 3,300 documented discussions,
testament to the lively exchange created by the intriguing prompts. Examples of
Discussion Board prompts for this class are found below. A full list of the Discussion
Boards can be found in Annex H.
Graph 10. Example Discussion Board prompt
The 3-2-1 Reflection Papers

79
The course provided a unique documentation of long-term learning through
reflection papers (Appendix I). The 3-2-1s required students to document three things
they didn’t know before the topic of the week; two things that were so interesting they
would continue to research them in the future; and one thing they were committed to
changing about their personal or professional practice based on the new learning. A 3-2-
1-reflection paper was required at the end of each weekly synchronous class and after
the sections. This assignment served four purposes. First, 3-2-1s documented student
attendance in the live class. Second, it established what the students considered to be
“priority” information and what aspects of the class surfaced as prominent to individual
students. Third, the 3-2-1s were later used as a kind of “e-portfolio” so the students
could see what they had learned in class over the semester. Finally, the 3-2-1 reflections
also served as feedback to the Instructor who was able to gauge if what she thought she
taught was actually conveyed, and what she gave priority to was also called out by the
students as being important.
The 3-2-1s became a habituated practice with students over the semester to the
point that several students said that they had integrated this into their work lives as
well as with colleagues in their job settings.
5. Andragogy
A fifth challenge is that university students as adult learners know a lot about
their world and have opinions that are often not taken into consideration by traditional
teachers in classroom settings. Traditional university instruction leaves little space for
descending viewpoints (Collins & Halverson, 2010). Perhaps one of the biggest shifts in
education over the past two decades is in the democratization of knowledge. Anyone,
rich or poor, can now visit the Louvre Museum, hear a world famous symphony or

80
participate in a lecture by a Nobel laureate through the Internet. This means that many
tech savvy individuals are now also more culturally and academically savvy as well.
The new adult learners in university classrooms also challenge their professors
as they are now entering more mature and sophisticated. Many older students are
returning to the classroom, and regular admission ages are climbing as universities
motivate students to take a year off before beginning their studies. Taking a gap year
has “a significant positive impact on students' academic performance in college, with
the strongest impact for students who had applied to college with grades on the lower
end of the distribution (Birch and Miller 2007; Crawford and Cribb 2012)” (Ho, 2015,
p.7). This means the average age of college students is rising, that are street smart,
knowledge-informed, and more mature enter university classrooms with a better
understanding of the world.
Andragogy and pedagogy are different in that the learner’s bases vary (Taylor &
Kroth, 2012). University education is different from other levels of education in that
adults already know a great deal about their world and they thrive in their own learning
when they are involved in teaching others through their own life experiences. The
multiplicity of ideas possible in university classrooms has multiplied thanks to student-
to-student learning, but they are not used enough by many professors in university
settings (Boud, Cohen & Sampson, 2014).
Value Learner Experiences.
The teaching team viewed the students in the course as sophisticated adults
mature and with distinct and valuable life experiences. They were constantly
encouraged to use personal and professional life experiences to illustrate concepts

81
learned in class. The bridge from theory to practice was enhance, as was authentic
learning, both important in significant learning.
Multi-Age Groups
The Harvard Extension courses permit students who are at the Graduate level
(Masters), Undergraduate level, and non-credit students to be in the same class
together. This creates interesting challenges, but also opportunities. The teaching team
had to decide how to differentiate grading of the graduate, undergraduate and non-
credit student by the amount and level of required assignments. This included
additional readings and viewings by graduate students, and the requirement to bring in
additional sources and cite them during Discussion Board exchanges. The teaching team
had the option to divide students by sections within the course. Undergraduate and
Graduate students could have divided sections, by age ranges, by geographical locations,
or any other parameter imaginable, but the team conscientiously decided against
dividing the group as it was felt integrating different perspectives on each topic was
enriched by multi-age, multi-educational, and multi-ethnic contributions.
6. Multi-media Learning
A sixth challenge facing university professors is that lecture-based courses can
be relatively static, especially compared with multi-media learning that is now at the
fingertips of most learners. Just a generation ago “multi-media” meant reading a
newspaper while the black and white television was on. Today, learners can be faced
with a an open e-book, a telephone open to a chat, a computer searching web pages for
online journals with another window open to Facebook, all with the iPod blaring music,
a HD (high definition) television showing a sports event in the background. The multi-
sensory experiences of everyday life make sitting in a traditional lecture seem less than

82
stimulating by comparison. Jethro, Grace and Thomas (2012) found that today’s
learners and the opportunities that e-learning provides change the profile of the typical
university student, and classrooms should adjust accordingly. The brain adapts to what
it does most (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014). Young university students who spend time
playing video games are anxious for change and accustomed to quick shifts in attention,
something rarely evident in university lecture halls.
Vary Activities to Enhance Recall.
Psyce 1609 leveraged technology to integrate multiple media into the course
room. This enhanced attention and exposed students to new ways to access knowledge.
The use of traditional readings was complemented by videos, links to external web
pages, online journals, games and podcasts.
7. Globalization
A seventh challenge is that the world of business, entertainment and social
networking is global; university classes need to be similarly connected. The world is
interconnected, so should be learning. The terms “open” and “flat” have been used to
describe modern access to information thanks to the Internet. The World is Open by
Curtis Bonk (2009), was written to illustrate the numerous ways education has been
democratized by free access, online libraries, museums and open access journals.
Similarly, Darling-Hammond (2015) used the term “flat” to refer not only to access but
also how policy changes can improve equity and knowledge of the world. No longer are
students limited to one version of a single theorist from a specific textbook, but rather
they can easily compare theories of motivation, marketing and molecular biology with
multiple voices and visions in relatively simple Internet searches. This creates the space
for much broader debate than in the past. At the same time this forces university

83
professors out of their comfort zones as they must also stay abreast of the information
their students have access to and try to remain at least a few steps ahead. Open, global
classrooms do not only refer to the type of information available, but also to the
classmates with whom one can study. The cultural context of learning in the 21st
century means that modern classrooms have no walls and student contributions can
come from any corner of the globe.
Over 60% of U.S. college students study at local public institutions. A decade ago,
university education meant studying with a more heterogeneous group than
experienced in high school, but in an environment that was still relatively homogeneous
to one’s neighborhood. These days, the reaches of technology mean that a single
classroom can by comprised of classmates from not only multiple viewpoints, but also
from different countries and cultural perspectives; “peer culture” in modern classrooms
is the world at large (Collins & Halverson, 2010). Breaking the boundaries of the brick-
and-motor classroom in modern universities means enriching class discussions on
Geopolitics, Energy, Art and Education with not just the token exchange of students’
ideas, but rather engaging in a truly “global schoolhouse” debate (Khan, 2012) in which
differences of opinion from multiple cultural perspectives are the norm, not the
exception.
Use the Global Schoolhouse.
Psyce 1609 took advantage of its students from Asia, Europe, Africa, South
America and across the United States to integrate distinct visions on weekly topics. For
example, when considering the mind-body influence on the brain’s ability to learn,
students reviewed food pyramids from Iran, Asia, the Mediterranean and the United
States and discussed exercise and sleep habits around the world and their potential

84
influence on learning. This broader vision encouraged students to identify unquestioned
personal biases which some had harbored for decades. This reflection permitted new
growth and learning and several stated that this shift in thinking never would have
occurred without the composition of learners permitted by the online format.
Challenges with Time Zones
Having students from different countries was highly beneficial from a learning
perspective, but create challenges from a timetable perspective, as noted Appendix X.
The multi-cultural perspectives that learners from around the world brought to the
class challenged mindsets about learning concepts, but came with the price of
integrating some learners who were just awaking as class began (6:00a.m. in California),
others who were ready for bed (10:00p.m.-12:00a.m. in Singapore), and yet others who
were taking breaks from work to participate (9:00-11:00a.m. EST or 3:00-5:00p.m. in
Berlin).
8. Internet: Compliment or Competition?
A final challenge to university professors is that the level of learning in some
classes struggles to go beyond what can be found on the Internet. A generation ago, a
university professor could impress students by explaining fascinating facts, today
students can find the same information on their phones often during the live class and
faster than the teacher can deliver the punch line. Teachers need to do more than just
relay data (Beetham & Sharpe, 2013; William, 2013). Technology has made simple
textbook teaching obsolete. “Teaching by the book,” is unnecessary when the ‘book’ can
often be found online and explained by a charismatic person in accessible language
through a short video (see the “Crash Course” video series for an example). There is a
sharp generational contrast about content expectations between Millenials and past

85
generations. The last generation had to fight for access to information. I recall going to
the library to check out a class copy of the text in order to do homework (“Do questions
1-20 in chapter 3”). The current generation has access to more information than it can
digest and desperately needs help to discern good from bad quality sources. The
problem of access to information has now become a problem of judgment of
information.
Most university students around the world have access to the Internet and are
able to research the core knowledge of any subject area at the touch of a button. Dates,
facts, formulas, basic concepts, heroes, theorists and the history of any field are easily
accessible online. The collective knowledge shared by the 31 million-strong Wikipedia
community of editors, for example, forced Encyclopedia Britannica, printed since 1768,
to an online only format as of 2010 to improve the accuracy of data. Nearly everything
that can be taught in a textbook can be found through a careful search of the Internet.
This means that discernment is as important as curiosity in modern times. University
professors need to not only review the types of resources they motivate students to use,
but also provide access to the same through technology links in their own classrooms.
To help students learn to judge the quality of the great quantity of information available,
Psyce 1609 students were given access to bundles that showed exemplary work from
the field. They were also taught how to use Google Scholar to filter out peer reviewed
texts an they were asked to reference their work on the Discussion Boards.
Space for Higher Order Thinking: A Shift to “Why” and “How”
What, where, when and who questions can easily be Googled in today’s university
classroom. This means a university professor can now spend more time with students
contemplating the why and how of their topics. Rather than ask where the Gettysburg

86
Address took place (or who delivered it or when), all easily “Googleable,” a professor can
stimulate a much richer discussion by asking why this was done. These questions take
longer to grade on an exam or to tease out in a class discussion because they are open-
ended, however, the level of thought process that can be conveyed through this type of
questioning is much more revealing about what a student knows about the topics. This
deeper learning is something a teacher can do that Google cannot. Which journal article
is better and why?, whose research is demonstrably more complete and how it was
executed?. Thanks to the Internet, basic education is at one’s fingertips. These means
that contact time with students should be stretched beyond simple memory exercises of
theories, concepts and formulas, and go deeper into thinking skills (Tokuhama-
Espinosa, 2014). The “old days” of lecture-only classrooms are slowly leading to more
dynamic classroom structures. In Psyce 1609 the “base” knowledge (the whos, whats,
whens and wheres) were tested in the weekly quizzes. This was then built upon in the
live synchronous class. Students were encouraged to bring questions about quiz
answers too the live class for deconstruction, if necessary. The firm base of quiz
knowledge permitted the teaching team to dedicate more time to deeper questions in
the topic at hand.
Embrace Technology.
The Psyce 1609 teaching team considers technology and especially use of the
resources on the Internet a welcome addition to the classroom. There were multiple
tools that facilitated the teaching and learning process in Psyce 1609. The use of self-
corrected quizzes, for example, speeded up basic knowledge acquisition. The bundles
were available 24/7 and enhanced the probability of high quality references. Online
chats and emails gave permanent access to the teaching team. The Grade Book made

87
learning progress visible and documented student advances. The dashboard in Canvas
reveals what pages of the platform students spend time in, helping teachers better
understand how students use course resources. For example, when grading the
Discussion Boards, both the quantity of exchanges and the quality of comments were
visible with a single click of a button on a single page. The Canvas platform also
provided evidence of student learning. For example, the multiple Semester Project
submissions and re-writes were documented and time stamped, providing a historical
overview of student progress throughout the semester. This permitted both the student
and teaching staff with a developmental view of progress made in class.
Research and APA Formatting Help
Another way that technology was used in Psyce 1609 was by providing research
and academic writing guidance. Students were given an APA Word document template
to help them understand the academic writing that was expected of them (Appendix J).
To the surprise of the teaching team, many students indicated that they had heard of
APA formatting before but had not been held accountable for using correct formatting in
other classes. Most of the international students in the class were unaware of these
requirements and the Harvard resources available to help them. Therefore, the team felt
it was necessary to hold an optional section to teach how to write in APA format (week
7), which served as an additional support to the students.
Summary of the Challenges in Modern University Education
The term “quality education” has multiple definitions and is heavily shaped by
value systems and cultural contexts (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2015) in both formal and
informal settings. While an understanding of human learning has advanced thanks to
knowledge of the brain (e.g., Ansari, 2015), more informative longitudinal studies (e.g.,

88
Tucker-Drob & Briley, 2014), comparative scales of learning outcomes (e.g., Hattie,
2008, 2009, 2011, 2013), and methodological innovations, the way we structure
learning experiences in our universities has lagged behind and is just beginning to
become more responsive to modern, often tech savvy, students (Kuh, Jankowski,
Ikenberry & Kinzie, 2014). Many university classes are still conducted as they were a
hundred years ago (Gehrke, 2014), though there are encouraging signs that market
forces are catalyzing some changes (Beetham & Sharpe, 2013). The availability of free
sources of information, such as MOOCs, have forced university classes to reconsider
how to fulfill expectations in a more demanding learning environment (Khan, 2012;
Yuan, Powell & CETIS, 2013) and the public debate about the costs of higher education
are catalyzing a review of both the quality of and access to universities (Sanders, 2016).
Students are also different than they were a generation ago. Individuals have
greater access to general knowledge than ever before in the history of humanity,
making the job of university professors even more difficult as they work to stay current.
However, having access does not guarantee practice in selecting the right sources and
evidence-based information to support ideas, opinions and beliefs (Laurillard, 2013).
The pilot instructional design used in the Harvard University Extension School’s course
on the Neuroscience of Learning responded to the modern challenges of university
education by leveraging the technology currently available. This new design, crafted
over the past four years, was successful but is it replicable and scalable?
Benefits and Drawbacks to the New Instructional Design of Psyce 1609
There is evidence that the design of this course permitted measureable increases
in student-teacher interaction, something uncommon in online settings. The enhanced
student-teacher relationships aided student learning outcomes by adhering to Hattie’s

89
number one influence on learning, being the students’ own belief in his/her ability to
learn as influenced by teacher feedback. “I never know online could be intimate”
(Student J, 2016, week X) was a comment by one learner, who felt she had the
opportunity to learn about the content of the class, but also about herself and different
perspectives on the information as provided by her classmates. The assignments and
the feedback structures and opportunities to re-write all enhanced this. There is also
documentation of improved student learning outcomes over time. For example, quiz
scores, Discussion Boards, Semester Projects submissions all improved with the
opportunity to re-take or re-write assignments. Students learn from their mistakes.
While there are multiple benefits to student learning, these came at the cost of
increased front-end planning time.

90
Question:
“The
Neuroscienc
e of
Learning
(Pysce
1609) uses
multiple
evaluation
tools. Which
of these
tools were
particularly
helpful in
facilitating
your own
learning?”
Answer: The
opportunity
to resubmit
assignments
was the
most
important
factor in
learning
Graph. 11. Student Evaluation: The Opportunity to Resubmit Assignments Key to Success
More or Less Work Than a Traditional Class?
There is evidence that both teachers and students spent more time in Psyce 1609
than in other courses.

91
Table 4. Teacher Work Load Over the Semester
Week
1 Class
Week
2 Class
Week
3
Class
Week
4
Class
Week
5
Class
Week
6
Class
Week
7
Class
Week
8
Class
Week
9
Class
Week
10
Class
Week
11
Class
Week
12
Class
Week
13
Class
Week
14
Class
Week
15
Class
Week 1
After
Class
Ended
Manage Discussion
Boards
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2 TA2
Clean Up Bundles
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA2
P,
TA2 P P P P P P P P
Conduct Live Class
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
Grade Live Class 3-2-1 P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P
Conduct Section TA1 P TA1 P
TA1,
TA2 TA2
P,
TA1
P,
TA1 TA1 TA2 P P P P
Grade Section 3-2-1 P P P P P P P P P P P P P P
Teaching Team weekly
planning and
evaluation meeting
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
Upload next week's
video TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1
Upload Live Class
recording TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1 TA1
Weekly office hours
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
P,
TA1,
TA2
Semester Project
Submission 1 grading
P,
TA1,
TA2
Semester Project
P,
TA1,
TA2
Semester Project
P,
TA1,
TA2
Semester Project
Submission 4 grading P
Semester Project
Submission 5 grading P
Semester Project
Submission Final
grading P P
P,
TA1,
TA2

92
Students indicated in the final course evaluation that they both spent more time
in this course, but also learned more than in other courses.
Graph 12. Level of Student Time Dedicated to Course and Level of Learning. Source: Week 14 Student Survey
The focus of The Neuroscience of Learning was precisely on modeling the best
knowledge and tools available to date about how humans learn. Multiple factors
contributed to Psyce 1609’s success. It can be argued that the success of this course in
increasing student learning outcomes is due, in fact, to its focus on learning itself (The
Neuroscience of Learning). Proof that the instructional design, rather than the course
content itself, will only come when different types of courses are taught in the same
format. It can also be argued that it was not only the teacher team’s disposition that
embraced good student-teacher relationships, but rather the unique combination of
students in the pilot. Proof that teacher attitudes were instrumental in enhancing
learning will come when the Instructor gets the same results with different groups of
students.
These numerous factors lead to the question as to whether the success of the
course is replicable (with different course content and teachers and scalable (though a
manageable instructional design template).

93
In human resource terms, this means to develop a high quality online course, a
professor should be compensated for eight weeks of preparation and 15 weeks of
teaching/grading. Some universities have experimented with two pay structures for
online course: one for the basic course design and the second for the actual teachers of
the course as these are different skill sets.
Instructional Design
To make this instructional design scalable, the authors recommend creating a
Psyce 1609 Canvas template, which would drastically reduce the amount of preparation
hours needed to develop a successful course. Canvas permits everything except student-
generated work to be copied into subsequent semesters, meaning that the development
of the videos, quizzes, grade books, discussion board prompts and format, and bundles
can all be carried over to a new version of the course in subsequent semesters with few
needed changes. This also permits the possibility of creating a course template for other
course designers who may wish to use this format, but who do not have the time to
dedicate to the instructional design. Professors would then need to (a) determine quiz
questions, (b) populate the bundles with resources appropriate for their course, (c)
write the Discussion Board prompts, (d) make the weekly videos.
Due to the time consuming nature of video filming, editing and rendering, it is
recommended professors begin their course in a blended format which will permit the
development of course weekly videos in a gradual way rather than all at once.
Front-end planning
Canvas is a learning platform piloted by the Harvard Extension School in 2014,
and fully incorporated by Psyce 1609 in 2016. The pilot semester permitted the
teaching staff the opportunity to experience all of the possibilities of the Canvas course

94
room, and to spend time in 2016 exploiting the many tools available. The course
preparation was intense. The teaching team had to learn the ins-and-outs of the Canvas
platform through video tutorials (est. 12 hours per team member), live sessions with
trainers (four hours of personal attention to our course, plus on-call assistance with
specific questions throughout the semester), as well as learn to manage the live classes
in Adobe (two hours of live training, plus on-call assistance throughout the semester).
Many of the difficulties noted in the 2014 were ironed out by the 2016 course,
permitting a greater extension of tool use. For example, the Speed Grader tool permitted
the teaching team to complete the rubric, which automatically linked to the grade book,
saving countless hours of data input time. While the tools existed in 2014, the teaching
team did not take full advantage of this until 2016.
An estimated 25 hours was then needed to upload the Discussion Board prompts,
instructions for the semester project, and the weekly work format. One of the Teaching
Assistants took the lead on all technical matters and changes, ensuring that duplication
of efforts was reduced. The team often met and discussed changes together over the
course of the semester and edited portions of the course room live in order to assure
clear communication of objectives on a weekly basis.
It is estimated that offering this course the second time around will only require
a fraction of the set up time, about 20 hours of work. The second offering of the course
will only require the teaching team to change due dates and re-record the weekly video
introductions (the body of the weekly videos will remain the same) and update bundle
content. (Please see Appendix C for a comparative table of first-time offering time
commitment versus second-time offering time commitment.)
While there was a great amount of time dedicated to the initial design of the
course (see Appendix C for hourly estimation) it is important to recognize that this

95
course can be replicated in Canvas by simply exporting the existing format to the new
course.
Grading
As is clear from the amount of time the teaching team dedicated to grading and
giving feedback, Psyche 1609 differed substantially from regular university courses in
the quantity and quality of feedback offered students. Student testimonials at Week 14
of the course made it clear that one of the most distinguishing elements of this course
was the time taken to invest in personalized guidance to improve learning outcomes.
Previous research on the division of time in high quality teacher practice
revealed that a 1:1:1 ratio between teaching, grading and planning is desirable, though
often not achieved (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2013).
The Shifting Role of University Professors
The instructional design format of Psyce1609 has evolved over the past four
years. It began as a face-to-face course with a small virtual element in which the current
instructor taught just three of the 15 topics and participated through a Skype set-up.
This evolved into teaching more than half of the classes remotely, and finally was re-
engineered completed for a 100% online format in 2016. In 2015 Harvard’s use of the
Canvas platform was piloted along with Big Blue Button, permitting a trial semester in
which the teaching team developed a level of comfort with the possibilities of the course
tools. In 2016 the course was offered for the first time in a 100% online format in
Canvas using Adobe Connect as the video platform and live course room, the results of
which have been shared in this paper.
This type of instructional design requires a change in mentality on the part of
professors and the way time on task is distributed. University professors have expertise

96
in a content area of knowledge. To be an excellent professor, this content knowledge
should be balanced with an understanding of how to teach. University instruction has
changed to require more skill sets on the part of instructors over the past century.
Futuristic models of great teaching now add further requirements including
technology, context as well as information about how the brain learns. These changes in
a professor’s job description require a different distribution of time. Traditionally, good
teaching involved a professor with solid content knowledge. Today, professors must
need to respond to the eight challenges indicated earlier:
Teaching
1. More knowledge about what influences student learning outcomes
based on longitudinal, comparative studies
2. More knowledge about how the brain learns
3. Increased formative assessment
4. Long-term, habituated, sustainable methodologies
5. Communication, Andragogy and Digital classrooms
Circumstances, Markets
6. Multimodal learning
7. Global community, citizens and learners
8. Access versus Judgment: Information Management
This means that the profile of successful university professors have evolved form
the sage on the stage to the guide on the side, form those steeped in textbook knowledge

97
to those who understanding human learning and individual potential and from
measurements of learning outcomes that are easy to grade, such as multiple choice
tests, to elaborated evaluation schemes that involve semester-long projects. Basic
university professor knowledge extends beyond content, to now include andragogy,
technology and neurology.
1900s
1950s
1980s
2000s
2010s
Graph 13. Evolution of University Professor Skills Sets Over Past Century

98
Conclusions
In summary, university education has immediate challenges created by market
demand, a more tech savvy population, globalization, and elevated expectations of
students. These challenges were met through the instructional design of Psyce 1609.
This design included the following tools used in the following ways:
The bundles were used as personalized entry points to learning. The multiple
levels and modalities permitted students to prepare all topics in the course with a
certain level of expertise.
The 99 graded assignments all complete with elaborated rubrics and most with
written feedback, created a cycle of teaching and learning that enhanced student
outcomes by celebrating group learning and a positive culture of evaluation.
The Discussion Boards created a dynamic space for student self-expression as
well as exchange and celebrated the andragogonous nature of university learning.
The “infinite” re-write policy encouraged students to learn from their mistakes
and resubmit work for improved grades.
The open communication channels through emails, announcements and office
hours created a constant, open dialogue between students and the teaching team.
The basic core content information that might be delivered in a face-to-face
university course was delivered through the weekly videos and quizzes, freeing up
space in the flipped methodology to go deeper into learning content in synchronous
classes. These were enhanced by recorded videos, chats, and small group sections.
The live class chat transcripts also reinforced learning through shared sources, real-
time clarifications to questions and dynamic student-teacher exchanges. The surveys
conducted within the synchronous class personalized the topics at hand and created an
anonymous entry point to ideas and an invitation to share individually if one so chose.

99
The 3-2-1 reflection papers created a documented learning process in which
students chronicled their own development on a weekly basis.
The Semester Project allowed both growth within a specialized topic as well as
taught specific research and academic writing skills.
Instructions were given in multiple formats (written, video and email) and
through various channels (calendar, announcements, grade book, assignment
section).
Finally format, which created the possibility of integrating Graduate,
Undergraduate, and Non-credit students, as well as benefitted from multi-age
groups and from students from around the world.
Student Evaluation of Psyce 1609
Can this type of instructional design transform university education around the
world? Psyce 1609 offered a pilot attempt at integrating the best possible online tools
available in modern times and students reacted favorable and documents improved
learning outcomes.
It can be argued that the final measure of an excellent university class are the
levels of learning experienced by the students and their satisfaction with the
experience. Below are some of the testimonials that came out of the final 3-2-1
reflection papers (see Appendix J for a full list of comments).
“I never imagined that a class could be organized so well and so intense” (Student M,
2016).
“Seeing my 321s I didn’t realize I learned so much during this course! There was an
incredible amount of knowledge passed along during this short period of time that I
am grateful; I didn’t know my classmates were so brilliant! Seeing their 321s side by
side was very inspiring to know that I was learning alongside some the most
interesting set of people from around the world; Third I didn’t know how much
Tracey has changed our lives, I knew how much she changed mine but her teaching

100
example she displayed will definitely spread out into all of our lives” (Student V,
2016).
“I did not think it was possible for the students/teaching team to form such a bond in an
online course!” (Student K, 2016).
“Three things you didn't know before class: I didn’t know how much I could learn from
an online class. I wasn’t watching a lecture; I was actually going to class. As with all
things, you get what you give” (Student J, 2016).
“I learned how the flipped classroom affected other learners throughout the semester and
to see how powerful the concepts that we were learning about in class were used to
shape the pedagogy; I had no idea how many new and leading edge concepts and
theoretical perspective can be identified as areas of needed research by using a
transdisciplinary MBHE lens looking at existing peer reviewed and current resources;
I learned that the process I underwent in changing as a learner, thinker and person
through this class was shared by everyone “ (Student A, 2016).
“The amount of hours that we had put into the course. It just flew by” (Student Z, 2016).
“I did not know how far I had come since the beginning of class. The 3-2-1 progression
was eye-opening; I did not know how much I had been impacted by others. The way I
think and approach things has changed; I did not know how much I love the people in
this class and how much I will miss them. I have really enjoyed this little community”
(Student A, 2016).
“I didn't know that the flipped classroom would work for me. I was a definite skeptic. Just
flipping isn't enough though, it was the care and consideration taken for the learner
and the goal of personal progress that made it special and successful; I didn't know
that I would take away such value from sharing a learning space with a group of
people who have such varied interests, talents, and perspectives. My program classes
have been primarily with other math teachers up to this point. I wish this class had
been much earlier in my studies; I didn´t know That I would change how I see myself
as a human, a parent, and a teacher” (Student Z, 2016).
“Three things I didn’t know before class: That this course would change my life in so
many ways it did; That an online class can be that personal and active; That this
would be such a great course” (Student L, 2016).
“Three things you didn't know before class: Never knew the level of connection and
caring that can be reached between individuals whom have never met in person once!;
That publishing was such a hard and humbling experience; Overall, that the flipped
classroom modality, with all its tools (i.e., quizzes, 321, DB) would be so amazingly
beneficial (and enjoyable) to me as a learner” (Student J, 2016).
“Three things I didn't know before this class: Firstly that I never though possible that a
flipped classroom could actually connect people in such a profound level. Secondly,
the tremendous influence the teaching team had in my life. Lastly, the valuable feed
back received from all the amazing people in the class that has changed my way of
perceiving things forever” (Student P, 2016).

Manual de Metodología Conexiones por Tracey tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.

Manual de Metodología Conexiones por Tracey tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.

Más contenido relacionado

Similar a Manual de Metodología Conexiones por Tracey tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.

Más de Conexiones: The Learning Sciences Platform

Último

Manual de Metodología Conexiones por Tracey tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.