Category: Course Design

Dana Dawson, Caitlin Shanley and Stephanie Fiore

The most common forms of information literacy education in recent decades have focused on developing our students’ ability to find sources and use them effectively and ethically in support of a thesis. The development of skills related to source identification and evaluation for scholarly purposes is undoubtedly an important outcome for college-level studies. However, the revised Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education, developed by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), Trudi Jacobson and Thomas Mackey’s work on metaliteracy and numerous studies conducted by Project Information Literacy have shown the need for a revised approach and provided new tools for addressing information literacy. Given the volume of information our students are exposed to on a daily basis, it is critical that they graduate with an enhanced awareness of how the information ecosystem works, how emotion influences the information we believe and act upon, and how investigative skills used for scholarly study can and should be applied in our everyday lives. Here are some approaches to consider for your own classroom.

Metacognition

Metacognition involves reflecting on our cognitive processes and developing an awareness of how we think and learn so that we can adjust our behaviors on the basis of what was effective. Applying metacognitive strategies allows our students to take control of their educational process and make connections between prior knowledge and course content. The metacognitive process for learning involves an iterative cycle of planning, monitoring and evaluating one’s learning with focused self–questioning at each stage.

This same metacognitive process can be used to develop a reflective stance on the information we’re exposed to in our studies and everyday lives. To help our students become more critical and reflective consumers of information, encourage them to apply the tools of the metacognitive process to their information consumption. In order to improve information literacy, students can ask themselves questions such as::

• Planning – What sources have I selected to read/watch/listen to and why? Will I look at multiple sources on an event or topic? Why am I reading about/watching/listening to this?
• Monitoring – What kinds of information are more likely to appear at the top of my feed? How am I feeling as I read/watch/listen to this? Do I agree with the information being presented because it has been verified or because it aligns with what I already believe? Am I investigating claims before forwarding them to others?
• Evaluating – Did I spend more time on certain types of sources than others? Whose information was I more likely to believe and share with others? Were my efforts to investigate sources and claims using other sources successful?

Ask good questions

Generalized skepticism is among the challenges instructors face in relation to information literacy and “I’m just asking” is one of the most potent tools for spreading distrust of substantiated information. However, learning to ask good questions for the purposes of investigation and verification is a foundational skill for scholarly study and conscientious consumption of information. Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana’s Question Formulation Technique is a strategy instructors can use to prompt students to not only generate questions but reflect on and prioritize the questions that will generate the most productive investigation.

Lateral reading

In a small but provocative study comparing the website evaluation strategies of Stanford students and history professors with those of professional fact checkers, Wineburg and McGrew found that fact checkers applied two strategies neither students nor faculty immediately went to – “taking bearings” and lateral reading. Rather than evaluate a source by digging deep into the source itself (for example, applying the CRAAP test), fact checkers started by learning more about the website or source and then opened new tabs and found additional sources to investigate claims and sources on the website as they read content on the initial site.

SIFT method

The SIFT method combines elements of metacognition and lateral reading into a simple mnemonic for evaluating claims.

• Stop
• Investigate the source
• Find better coverage
• Trace claims to their source

Connect classroom activities with everyday life

Our students come to our classrooms with some awareness of how information is manipulated and with strategies for finding and evaluating sources. However, the very human tendency to compartmentalize information means that we need to be proactive in connecting what happens in the classroom with the strategies applied outside the classroom. If you assign a research paper or project, start with a reflection on how students find information in their everyday life. Use analogies such as crime scene investigations or learning more about a possible romantic partner to encourage deeper thinking about how we ask questions and seek additional information. LaGarde and Hudgins encourage instructors to have students use personal devices such as cell phones to do some searching to help make the connection between search strategies learned in the classroom and those employed in everyday life.

Inoculate against mis/disinformation

Finally, recent research on protecting against mis- and disinformation has suggested the efficacy of “inoculating” students against future exposures. Strategies such as explaining misleading argumentation techniques, demonstrating how content is designed to manipulate emotion and showing how certain types of content are more likely to be prioritized on platforms students access can reduce the influence of misleading information going forward. Sites such as Bad News Game can be used to help students understand how platforms and content creators play on our emotions and pre-existing beliefs to increase viewership and readership. Lorenz-Spreen et.al. have also shown that such interventions in combination with self-reflection on aspects of our personality or behavior that might be targeted is particularly effective in boosting one’s ability to detect manipulative strategies.

Additional Resources

• Algorithmic Justice League www.ajl.org
• Digital Citizenship Resource Platform https://dcrp.berkman.harvard.edu/
• News Literacy Project https://newslit.org/
• Project Information Literacy: https://projectinfolit.org/

Sources

• Downey, A. (2016). Critical Information Literacy : Foundations, Inspiration, and Ideas. Library Juice Press.

Dana Dawson is Associate Director of Teaching and Learning at Temple’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Caitlin Shanley is the Coordinator of Learning & Student Success at Temple University Libraries.

Stephanie Fiore is Assistant Vice Provost at Temple’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Dana Dawson

The Advance Organizer is a tool you can use to focus student attention during lectures, improve retention of course content and connect new information with prior knowledge. Advanced Organizers can take a variety of forms from brief expository overviews to help students make meaning of course content to graphic representations that provide a framework for information.

Overview

As an expert in your field, it can be hard to put yourself in the shoes of someone new to the information you’re sharing. The connections between content delivered in separate lessons, how a theory applies to a specific case or even the meaning of frequently used terms in your discipline may seem so obvious to you that they don’t require explicit explanation for your students. Ambrose et. al. point out that one important way in which expert and novice learners differ is in the density of connections among concepts, facts and skills. Research on learning has shown that students retain more of what they learn and for longer if they connect new information with prior knowledge and have an organizational schema, or knowledge structure within which to fit new information. 

In addition to giving students a framework within which to fit new information, Advance Organizers help students focus during lectures, whether given in-person or delivered in a pre-recorded format. The duration of a student’s attention span will vary for a variety of reasons, but research suggests that we should anticipate attention lapses and intersperse listening to videos or lectures with frequent activities to bring attention back to the content, integrate low stakes opportunities for students to self-assess understanding and highlight key points and takeaways. 

Types and Examples

Expository organizers are used primarily for new and unfamiliar learning material. For example, Dee Ann Gillies tested the use of expository organizers in the form of short statements outlining unifying concepts related to information presented during lectures with students enrolled in an introductory course in medical surgical nursing. The study found improved learning and short-term retention of material. 

Narrative organizers use a story structure to convey information. A story might illustrate something about course content through analogy or by turning key concepts into characters and building detail and narrative to help students recall key information (see, for example, Sketchy’s study guides sketchy.com). 

Know-Wonder-Learn (KWL) is an advanced organizer that helps both instructor and student access background knowledge. Students are asked to complete the first two columns prior to instruction and to share what they have written. The final column can be filled in for reflection or submission.

(https://teaching.vt.edu/content/dam/teaching_vt_edu/resources/Advance%20Organizers.pdf)

Graphic organizers constitute the biggest category of Advance Organizers and can take a wide variety of forms, including tables, venn diagrams, flow charts and concept maps. They can be used to help students see connections between concepts, the steps in a process or sequence of events or simply to organize students’ thinking before, during or after instruction.

Examples:

(Barkley, Elizabeth F.. Interactive Lecturing: A Handbook for College Faculty, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2018: 242. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/templeuniv-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5254245.)

Implementation

Advance Organizers can be distributed in completed form or as blank documents that students complete before, during or after instruction. The SmartArt options in PowerPoint are helpful for creating graphic organizers that suit your specific needs. You might assign students to work in pairs or small groups to complete the Advance Organizer or compare notes. They also can be used in your syllabus or Canvas course to provide students with an overview of the material to come. For additional information on the use of graphic organizers in syllabi, review the CAT workshop recording of The Interactive and Graphic Syllabus here. 

Additional Resources

• Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M., Norman, M. K., & Mayer, R. E. (2010). How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. Jon Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
• Barkley, E. F. (2018). Interactive Lecturing: A Handbook for College Faculty. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
• Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Virginia Tech. Advance Organizers. https://teaching.vt.edu/content/dam/teaching_vt_edu/resources/Advance%20Organizers.pdf 
• College Star. Advance Organizers: Preparing Students for Learning. https://www.collegestar.org/modules/advance-organizers#jafari-2012 
• Costley, J., Mik, F., Lange, C., & Baldwin, M. (2021). The effects of video lecture viewing strategies on cognitive load. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 33(1), 19-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12528-020-09254-y
• Creately. The Ultimate List of Graphic Organizers for Teachers and Students. https://creately.com/blog/diagrams/types-of-graphic-organizers/ 
• Gillies, D.A. (1984). Effect of advance organizers on learning medical surgical nursing content by baccalaureate nursing students. Research in Nursing and Health, 7, 173-180. https://doi-org.libproxy.temple.edu/10.1002/nur.4770070305
• Jafari, K. & Hashim, F. (2012) The effects of using advance organizers on improving EFL learners’ listening comprehension: A mixed method study. System, 40(2), 270-281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2012.04.009.
• Learnet. What is an Advanced Organizer? http://www.projectlearnet.org/tutorials/advance_organizers.html 
• Luiten, J., Ames, W., & Ackerson, G. (1980). A meta-analysis of the effects of advance organizers on learning and retention. American Educational Research Journal, 17(2), 211–218. https://doi.org/10.2307/1162483 
• Patricia Cross Academy. Learning Technique 29: Advance Organizers. https://kpcrossacademy.org/techniques/advance-organizers/ 

Dana Dawson is Associate Director of Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Cliff Rouder

On March 16, we were honored to have Dr. André Thomas from Texas A&M University as this year’s STEM Educators Lecture guest speaker. Dr. Thomas is an Associate Professor of Practice in the College of Architecture and is the Director of the LIVE lab at Texas A&M. He is also the CEO of Triseum, a small spin-off company of the LIVE lab. 

Dr. Thomas shared his experience with the process of creating and testing a video game to help calculus students master a conceptual understanding of limits–a fundamental concept students often struggle with early on and that is essential for success in the course. Calculus is required for several STEM majors, but with a national failure rate (defined as a grade of D, F, or Withdrawl) of 34% for Calculus 1, it is often a barrier to students’ success in their intended major and career. 

Dr. Thomas began by reminding us that when we are very young, we learn by playing games, but this element of play disappears as the educational approach shifts to sitting in rows and listening to lectures. Games are a medium for learning just like books, and thus they do belong in the classroom and are indeed currently being used in STEM courses nationally and internationally. However, completing the game isn’t what’s most meaningful; rather, it’s enabling students to take a deeper dive–to spend more time on task–through a medium that this generation of students has grown up playing and enjoying.

The process of designing a video game to teach calculus began for Dr. Thomas and his team by pinpointing the really complex and challenging subject matter that a game might help students master and identifying specific learning objectives. Many iterations later, with input from an interdisciplinary team of students, subject matter experts, game designers, instructional designers, and assessment experts, they developed the game Variant Limits. Receiving feedback from students was essential; successful game creation requires a thorough understanding of what students look for and find pleasurable in a video game experience. 

Variant Limits puts students in the role of a female explorer in a 3-D world who lands on an abandoned planet and has to figure out what happened using their conceptual understanding of limits to overcome certain obstacles in that world. At the end of each segment of play, there’s an assessment for students to reflect on what they did and how it worked. To learn about the effects of Variant Limits on students’ grades, we invite you to listen to the Zoom recording of Dr. Thomas’ talk in our CAT Workshop archive.

The process of designing the game and researching its impact on student learning taught Dr. Thomas two key lessons: 

• STEM faculty have to get out of the mindset that their mission is to weed out students who are not performing well. Rather, they need to embrace the mission of helping more students succeed. 
• Helping our students recover from suboptimal performance and failure is crucial. STEM faculty are conditioned to shy away from failure, but we should be encouraging students to learn from the failure and try again rather than to quit. A video game like Variant Limits does just that. It gives students the opportunity to productively struggle, fail with no real world consequences, and then learn, try again, and get to 100% mastery. 

Creating and maintaining a video game is a large undertaking that requires time, as well as significant collaboration and funding, and may not be feasible or even advisable for faculty to attempt. As an alternative, he suggested the use of existing games, for example, repurposing TIC-TAC-TOE from a competitive game to a collaborative game that might be useful in teaching a concept in their course. Even better, students might develop a game themselves in small groups, and then ask another group to improve upon it. This reinforces the real-world practice of collaborating and building on another’s idea rather than throwing out that idea and starting from scratch.

If game-based learning (GBL) has piqued your interest, be sure to sign up for our 3-part workshop beginning Wednesday the 23rd titled, Level Up! Learning with Games and Gamification. GBL can be a useful pedagogical strategy for any course!

If you’d like to keep the GBL discussion going, post a comment on our new Faculty Teaching Commons. What are your thoughts about–and experiences with–GBL? Inquiring minds want to know!

If you’d like assistance incorporating GBL into your courses, one of our faculty developers or educational technology specialists are ready to help. Make an appointment here or email a CAT staff member directly.

Michael Johnson, Brigham Young University

Not all students in a class will master material at the same rate.  This tip discusses techniques for verifying that your class is prepared to learn new concepts, as well as ideas for helping those who fall behind.

Even though everyone’s learning journey is very personal, much of the university learning experience takes place in the context of a community and within the constraints of a semester or term schedules.  At times, some members of that learning community may not be ready to move on to the next stage of learning.  As teachers we sometimes move on, leaving learners behind, and sometimes these learners never catch up.  Without stifling those who are ready to move forward, it is possible to pause and verify that everyone is prepared to move on.

What can we do to ensure that each learner is ready to proceed on the learning journey?  Here are several ideas to consider:

How do you identify who is being left behind?  Simply ask the students what they understand

Approach 1: Invite students to do a think-pair-share

Ask students a question.

• Give students appropriate time to formulate a response.
• Have each student turn to another to share his/her response.
• Randomly call on various students to share their responses with the entire class.
• From a sampling of responses, determine if the students are ready to move on.

Approach 2: Conduct class instant polling

• For instant in-class polling, use a classroom response system like i>clickers, Top Hot, TurningPoint, or other tools available at your institution.
• For outside-of-class polling or surveys use tools like Survey Monkey or Qualtrics, etc.

Approach 3: Invite students to complete one-minute papers

• At the end of each class period, invite learners to answer questions about the experience (e.g., “What is the most significant thing you learned in class today?” or “What is still confusing about what was covered in class today?”)
• Collect and review the responses to determine who is ready to move on and who needs additional instruction.

Once you’ve identified who is being left behind, what can be done to help them?  Provide additional learning opportunities

Approach 1: Use low stake quizzes 

• Low stake quizzes are worth few or no points.   
• Low stake quizzes can provide opportunities for students to demonstrate learning.   
• Significantly, electronic quizzes have the advantage of automatic grading and automatic feedback. 

Approach 2: Model and practice

• Explain a concept or model a process that students need to master. 
• Then break students into teams to practice, following your example. 
• When the class comes together, select a sampling of students to demonstrate what was learned. 
• Provide immediate constructive and confirming feedback.

Everyone has the potential to learn, even though he may represent the proverbial “last wagon.”  Teachers can use a few simple practices to help each student make steady progress in their learning.

Additional Resources

Angelo, Thomas A. and K. Patricia Cross. Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993)

Davis, Barbara Gross. Tools for Teaching 2^nd edition (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009)

McKeachie, Wilbert J. Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers 10^th edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999)

Michael Johnson is from the Center for Teaching & Learning at Brigham Young University

This article is released under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Steven J. Bell

The University’s Textbook Task Force has been strategizing to promote textbook affordability through the adoption of open educational resources (OER) and affordable learning materials. Among its initiatives are the addition of a new syllabus policy for affordable learning materials, creating more awareness about OER, and working with Temple Student Government on textbook affordability.  

In fall 2020, the Task Force asked faculty to complete a survey on their current use of OER and affordable materials. The survey responses were useful to better understand how often and for what purposes OER and affordable materials are being used at the university. Faculty who responded were also invited to learn more about OER, and university librarians followed up with the 156 faculty members who requested more information.  

To better share and leverage the data collected in the survey, the Task Force decided to develop a resource that would allow faculty to access the information that was collected and even add to it. If more faculty could see who else was already using OER and other zero-cost learning materials, they could be encouraged to do so as well. It would also provide faculty with contacts within or beyond their own department who could potentially provide advice and resources for how to eliminate textbooks and other materials that can be expensive for students to purchase.  

That information is now available in Temple’s Open and Affordable Learning Materials Inventory [http://library.temple.edu/affordablematerials]. This inventory is a resource for University faculty to use in order to obtain ideas and suggestions for affordable learning materials to adopt. Only Temple faculty/staff can view the Inventory; it is not available to the general public. 

What’s Included in the Inventory

When you view the Inventory you will see which faculty members are already using OER and other zero-cost learning materials in place of traditional commercial textbooks. You will see which type of zero-cost material it is: OER; library-licensed content; free/non-OER; or instructor-created content. All OER materials are verified to ensure they are indeed openly licensed content.

How Do I Add to the Inventory? 

Once you are viewing the Inventory, adding your own OER or zero-cost learning materials is easy. First, click on the “+NEW” button on the left side of the top of the page. 

That will open a form where you can add your information. There are supplemental notes to provide additional information on each of the form items.

Before your entry is added to the Inventory, it will be reviewed by a member of the Libraries’ Open Education Group. If there are any questions, the reviewer will contact you by email. 

We invite you to begin using this Inventory as a resource to identify other faculty in your discipline who are currently using zero-cost learning materials, as well as sharing information about your own use of these materials. Working together, faculty can identify resources that will help our students to have a more affordable education. 

Bear in mind this is a first iteration of a faculty inventory for affordable learning materials. Your feedback will help lead to future improvements and enhancements. Please send your comments to this mailbox. 

If you have any questions or need additional information about OER, please contact your department’s subject specialist librarian.

Steven J. Bell is Associate University Librarian for Research and Instructional Services at Temple University Libraries.

Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D.

Let’s begin with debunking a persistent misconception about learning: Learning styles do not exist. Moreover, matching instruction strategies to a particular learning style, such as using visuals to teach a “visual learner,” does not improve learning for that particular student (Pashler, McDaniel, Roher, & Bjork, 2009). Worse, using the wrong sensory modality for instruction for some content may impair learning if the content is better suited to learning strategies delivered in another modality. For example, providing a lecture on knitting to an “auditory or verbal learner” will not improve learning if this is the only form of instruction. All learners will benefit from visual instruction and will require hands-on practice (kinetic learning strategies) to learn to knit.

Why the language we use matters when we talk to students about learning strategies and learning preferences.

The myth of “learning styles” persists for several reasons. One source for this misconception is the genuine need to accommodate individuals who cannot access materials in a particular modality. A second source is based on personal experiences with preferred activities. Some people prefer to read a book whereas others prefer to watch a film. If we talk about “learning styles” when we mean to talk about preferences, we inadvertently reinforce the false belief in “learning styles.” Language matters.

Certainly, some individuals have physical or cognitive characteristics that impair accessibility to learning in that modality. Hearing impairments create obstacles for lecture-based instruction. Dyslexia and other reading disabilities limit the accessibility of written materials. Visual impairments (blindness, or, in some cases, color blindness) interfere with learning from images. Limitations on mobility or fine motor skills make hands-on learning activities less effective. The fact that a particular modality is not accessible to a student does not mean that the student has a “learning style.” Materials presented through one sensory modality are simply not accessible to them for learning.

Similarly, preferred activities are not “learning styles.” We may enjoy some activities more than others, but our preferences do not mean we cannot learn if we use a less preferred activity. We might be more motivated to engage in a learning strategy that uses our preferred learning activity. If I like to watch videos more than I like to read, I might be more likely to complete an assignment that requires watching a video than one that requires reading a text. However, my preferences do not mean I will learn more by watching the video than by doing something else (e.g., reading or hands-on practice). 

Different content and skills are sometimes learned best when students use specific modalities to interact with the content, regardless of the learner’s preferred activities (Bruff, 2019). For example, botony students will learn to identify plants more accurately if they study pictures than if they listen to a lecture or read verbal descriptions. Students in a poetry class will learn more about writing poems if they listen to poems read aloud than if they study images that depict the meanings of poems. Students of piano or dance must engage in physical activity to learn to play piano or dance. Interestingly, for all disciplines, students learn even better if they engage with the content and skills using a variety of modalities and learning activities (e.g., viewing images of art and reading verbal descriptions and analysis of the work).

Research on how people learn indicates that people learn best when they use multiple modalities to think about, practice, and encode new content and skills (Ambrose, et al., 2010; Bruff, 2019). If I read content, listen to a lecture, and study images and graphs related to the content, I am more likely to remember than if I think about the content in only one way. Research on memory and cognition refers to this phenomenon as the benefit of dual coding (Paivio, 2007) or breadth of processing (Anderson & Reder, 1979). If memory for new information uses both images and words, I have two ways to remember the information. If I forget the information coded in one modality, I might still be able to remember it by using the other encoding modality. Redundant systems work more reliably than a system that operates correctly with one procedure only. 

Application: Effective Learning Strategies

• Present material in a variety of modalities: visual (pictures and graphics) and verbal (written and spoken). 
• Provide concrete examples as well as abstract explanations of concepts. Discuss the connection between characteristics of the concrete examples and key elements of the abstract representation.
• Distribute learning activities over time. Repeated exposure and practice of new material spaced across intervals of time (a few weeks) produces longer-term learning. The passage of time between each exposure creates a different learning context. Variations in learning contexts create multiple cues that students can use to help them remember.
• Interleave review of examples of solved problems with activities that require students to solve problems independently. As expertise and problem-solving skill increase, ask students to spend less time studying examples of solved problems and more time working independently to solve new problems.
• Use quizzes and exams as opportunities to learn. Tests require students to practice retrieving information from memory. Students get feedback about retrieval success during the test and from their test scores. They can learn about how well the strategies they used to learn new material worked. Ask students to reflect on how they prepared for an exam and ask them to consider whether using a different study strategy might improve future test performance. Post-exam reflections (exam wrappers) help students calibrate their judgments about how well they prepared and how much they learned. These insights can guide their choices for future study activities.

Resources

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass. 

Anderson, J. R., & Reder, L. M. (1979). An elaborative processing explanation of depth of processing. In L. S. Cermak and F. I. M. Craik (Eds.), Levels of processing in human memory (pp. 385-404). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bruff, D. (2019). Intentional tech: Principles to guide the use of educational technology in college teaching.West Virginia University Press.

Paivio, A. (2007). Mind and its evolution: A dual coding theoretical approach. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119.

Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. is the Director Emeritus at the Center for University Teaching, Learning and Assessment at University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL

This article is released under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Heather R. Porter, PhD, CTRS, FDRT

As described within a previous EDvice Exchange article, Positive Projects is the revving up of students’ Positive emotions through Engagement of Meaningful student projects outside of the classroom that highlight and strengthen Accomplishments and Relationships. Here, we will delve into the Positive Project of creating and operating a profession-specific niche website and database with students.

Meaning

A Positive Project begins by identifying a profession-specific gap or need that’s meaningful to you and your students. For the purpose of this article, consider how this gap or need could be met by developing a profession-specific niche website. For example, students in the Recreational Therapy (RT) Program at Temple University conduct literature syntheses within select coursework. Some of this work is exceptional and could inform current clinical practice with additional mentoring by faculty outside of the classroom. Sadly, however, it sat idly in their computers. The need to share and disseminate this work to the broader field was identified as a gap and a need. Consequently, the RT Wise Owls website was created to share peer-reviewed student syntheses publicly.

The dissemination of student work through this website is meaningful to faculty and students because it contributes to the greater good of the profession, increases name recognition, demonstrates a commitment to strengthening the field, and is often presented at regional, national, and international conferences.

Since its inception in 2013, the website has grown into a database and evidence-based practice information resource center for the field. Additionally, the RT Wise Owls Research Lab was created to support the upkeep of the database. In this lab, RT students search electronic databases for high-quality RT-related literature aligned with their clinical interests for potential inclusion in the database. This experience strengthens their literature search skills and increases their knowledge of the most up-to-date research in areas of interest, which subsequently enhances their clinical marketability.

The website currently garners 14,000+ unique visitors per year from over 100 countries.

Engagement

Positive Projects need to immerse students further into the profession than what is typical in academia and allow them to ‘give’ something (e.g., to another student, the profession, or the community). Engagement at this level can help students find meaning and purpose in their career path and promote altruism, driving personal and professional growth. The development of a profession-specific niche website can provide this experience for students. For example, the RT Wise Owls site offers opportunities for students to be published, which is not typical, especially for Undergraduate students. In addition, it provides them with an opportunity to contribute to the profession at large, connect with others who read their research, and increase their sense of being a change agent within the profession, which often drives intrinsic motivation for continued professional involvement.

Importantly, students involved with the RT Wise Owls site are mentored by faculty members outside the classroom, where students build upon existing skill sets gained in other contexts. For example, RT students learn how to search electronic databases and synthesize literature in coursework; and then expand upon these foundational skills through their involvement with the RT Wise Owls site. This creates a sense of flow, an optimal state of intrinsic motivation. 

Accomplishment

A sense of accomplishment is an essential ingredient within Positive Projects. Consequently, if choosing to develop a profession-specific niche website, the project needs to be broken down into discrete steps with clear and feasible timelines. Regular feedback must also be provided, along with opportunities for students to experience a level of autonomy appropriate to the tasks.

Students who desire to publish their work on RT Wise Owls work closely and collaboratively with a faculty mentor over a semester outside of the classroom to strengthen their work. Specific tasks are outlined along with clear deadlines. Kind, specific, and helpful feedback is provided. Two additional faculty members then peer-review, and a decision is shared (accept, accept with revision, denied).

Students who volunteer in the RT Wise Owls Research Lab work collaboratively with their faculty mentor to identify a topic of interest that they will research for the semester. Additional education and training are provided at the start of the semester on how to search electronic databases related to their research topic, and guidance is provided throughout the semester.

Relationships

Within a Positive Project, the students and faculty members work together in a collaborative process that enhances a sense of support, relatedness, and belonging. When students work on a synthesis of the literature to be posted on RT Wise Owls, the students and faculty mentor work collaboratively throughout the process. This not only aids in the students’ enhancement of skills through regular feedback and guidance, but it also creates a ‘we’ bond. It increases students’ comfortability in seeking and receiving feedback and lessens students’ anxiety. Collaboration may take the form of providing questions and answers within the synthesis document, discussing resources, reviewing and explaining literature, and having group-based conversations.

Positive Emotions

Positive emotions–such as joy, excitement, and pride–flourish when projects are structured in the above manner. Regarding RT Wise Owls, students who publish on the site or work in the RT Wise Owls Research Lab report feelings of joy and pride related to the work they produced and contributed to the broader profession. Faculty also report feeling a sense of pride in the students they mentored and a sense of meaning in mentoring the next generation of the RT profession.

Resources

If you would like additional guidance in creating a Positive Project, feel free to reach out to me (hporter@temple.edu). Also, if you are interested in creating a profession-specific niche website, here are a few helpful resources:

• Website Platform: Temple faculty can create a free website using WordPress through Temple University. Simply go to sites.temple.edu to develop your own website.
• Domain Name: It is recommended you choose a name for your website and register it (e.g., through Name Cheap) so that your readers can easily find and share your website with others.
• Database: The search functionality for the database within RT Wise Owls was created using a free WordPress plug-in called Pods, which allows you to create taxonomies for data. This is used in conjunction with Posts Table Pro ($79/year), which works with Pods to create searchable taxonomy tables.

Heather R. Porter, PhD, CTRS, FDRT is a Professor at Temple University,’s College of Public Health in the Recreational Therapy Program.