Seton Hall University

Status: This project originated as part of NCAT's FIPSE-funded Roadmap to Redesign (R2R) program, 2003 – 2006. Due to a variety of factors, this project was not completed. The project plan serves as a good example of how to think about redesigning a large-enrollment course.

Project Plan:
Seton Hall University plans to redesign Introduction to Psychology, a course taken by approximately half of all undergraduates in the School of Arts and Sciences. In the traditional format, three to five sections of small (45), medium (80) or large (120) sections were taught by a combination of full-time and adjunct faculty, resulting in disparate learning experiences and redundancy in course preparation. Moreover all sections were taught in a passive face-to-face lecture format and allowed for little active learning. During the 2003-04 academic year, Introduction to Psychology was redesigned as a hybrid course. Fifty percent of traditional face-to-face lectures were replaced with online, active learning modules administered through the Blackboard course management system.

The goal of the 2003-04 redesign was to encourage students to be more independent active learners and to improve their mastery of the course content. This first redesign demonstrated that the hybrid format works well: it was evaluated favorably by participating faculty and the majority of the students. Course grades, however, indicated that there was no significant difference in student learning when compared to the traditional face-to-face course. The goal of Seton Hall’s second redesign is to improve student mastery of subject matter by more closely monitoring student progress and providing students with more individualized assistance.

Seton Hall will continue to employ the Replacement Model. Half of traditional face-to-face lectures will be blended with computer-based learning activities. Seton Hall has created nine interactive learning modules that correspond to the textbook chapters. Each module includes 1) reading assignments from the text, 2) simulations and interactive exercises, 3) mandatory online quizzes, and 4) online lectures and a variety of other activities. The modules will be revised to add more practical application of psychological concepts in order to better complement rather than replicate the lecture and text-based materials. Improvements to the mastery quizzing component of the course will be made. Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) will respond to students' technical and general questions--enabling the faculty to direct class time to relevant course topics--and will monitor each student's performance. Students missing assignments or submitting poor quality work will be contacted immediately.

The impact of the second redesign on student learning will be assessed by comparing grade performance from sections taught by the same professors in each format. Grades from the second redesign will be compared with those from the traditional course in prior semesters as well as from the first redesign. Student attitudes toward the course and actual online, on-task performance will also be evaluated.

Cost savings will be realized by reducing the number of sections from eight to five large sections and increasing the number of students taking the course. Offering fewer sections of Introduction to Psychology will reduce the number of faculty members assigned to the course from three to two and will eliminate all adjunct faculty. Those savings will be somewhat off-set by the addition of GTAs, but the overall result will be to reduce the cost-per-student from $189 in the traditional format and $201 in the first redesign to $73 in the second redesign.

Quick Links:

Roadmap to Redesign Main Page...