I liked the textbook we used through mindtap.

I think everything was great about Mindtap, it was easy to navigate and better than having to buy an actual book. It made doing the chapter test easier to go back and review the book.

i liked mindtap

I really enjoyed using MindTap. I liked having the textbook with me wherever I went (as long as I had my laptop with me), instead of having to carry around a big textbook with me wherever I went. I thought the site was really easy to navigate and use. I really liked the set up of the readings and quizzes that went along with the readings. The "check your understanding" parts of the website were conveniently located right after each designated reading. I could see some people having an issue with an all online textbook because some people prefer to read books in person rather than on a screen. However, it worked really great for me! I would definitely recommend using it for your future classes.

Mindtap was fine, I just wish there was an opportunity to retake tests or assignments at least once.

The textbook is easy to use and even has a search function.

The textbook reading itself was very relevant to the rest of the course. However, I found most of the quizzes, especially the image analysis quizzes, frustrating. Some of the questions were poorly worded or there seemed to be multiple answers that were partially correct. Due to the fact that there were only three questions on the "Check Your Understanding" and "Image Analysis" quizzes, my grade dropped significantly if I missed only one question. There is no option for a retake. In the Chapter Quizzes, one of my main areas of difficulty were the primary source activities, as these sources were not mentioned or covered in the chapter reading. The grades I received on my MindTap quizzes do not accurately reflect my knowledge of the course material.

The mindtap chapter quizzes were more focused on analyzing maps and passages from outside material, than of testing the knowledge obtained from the textbook reading. There was no context for the image analysis in our class or textbook, and I felt I wasn't prepared for guessing the image's meaning. Sometimes it was common sense, but other times there were multiple answers I thought would make sense, and without the right background information it felt like a guessing game.  

I was very satisfied with the ease of access and information the textbook provided.

I felt like the textbook was very difficult to understand. There was a lot of information in just one sentence and sometimes reading it, it was hard to understand who specifically they were talking about. The chapters bounced around between information and locations and people. 

no problems

It seemed expensive for a digital textbook.

It was eh. 

I think all of the video clips assigned were relevant to the corse material at hand and they did a good job supplementing the reading assigned to help me better understand the material in depth.

More textual and descriptive background for each clip would be more helpful. It was nice to be able to pause and rewind. Personally it was hard for me to take notes because it prolonged the videos and I felt like I was missing information and not understanding. But yes I clearly understood why it was assigned.

I liked having the videos as additional learning materials because I learn well from watching/listening new information. I feel like I was able to retain more from the videos at times rather than just the readings. I also really liked that I could pause and rewind the videos as needed.

I would recommend more shorter or compactly dense videos that are able to hold attention spans better, though that may just be me.

I can't remember what its called but having the text written down to reference in the videos is helpful if that's possible.

The weekly video clips were extremely helpful and enjoyable. They influenced my understanding of the course and were relevant to the textbook reading.

It would've been helpful if all videos had closed captions. I had to guess the spelling of some names, and later got them marked wrong on the video quiz due to the spelling. 

A transcript of the videos would've been nice but overall all other aspects were good.

Watching the videos was very helpful for me. However, I felt the note taking made it difficult because of the specific questions that got asked in the video quizzes or specific parts. I felt it was harder to grasp what you were learning because you're so focused on trying to write out ALL the video just in case it was asked in the video quiz. 

not that I can think of

Maybe being able to have subtitles when watching the videos

The video clips were very small, and when you full-screened them they became very pixelated. Other than that they were great and provided good info.

It seemed like all of the video sources were from the 90's. Maybe it doesn't matter since it's all history anyways, but it seemed outdated. Looking for info in the clips takes a long time, since you can't control+f for keywords. 

Although I think it's a better learning strategy to log in multiple times throughout the week, I think it would put unnecessary strain on those who have responsibilities and obligations outside of class.

I strongly agree with the proposal. I was one of those students that tried to get my chapter tests and exercises done in one day, mainly because I just had a new baby a week before the term started, and went back to work and have a toddler, plus going to school full time. Not an excuse, but if I had deadlines throughout the week, I could have had the time to get my work done in a timely manner than have to rush it on the weekends. I think giving midweek deadlines would be a great idea. 

i think it would be helpful to combat procrastinating

I think that this could be a good idea. It would create a more established schoolwork routine for students as it would require them to do a little bit at a time throughout the week instead of all at once on a Sunday. This is coming from someone that did do a lot of my work on the weekends, but I think if the deadlines were also throughout the week, I still would have been able to get them all done by the deadline.

I don't have an opinion on this, if there's a deadline I'll do it any time I want as long as it is on time.

More deadlines would be fine but they need to be at least thursday or later, tuesday due dates are too early. I think that thursday/friday due dates then test/chapter quiz due dates would be fine.

The way I see it, I think people who choose to procrastinate are only doing a detriment to themselves so why help them? I don't think this is necessarily a good or bad idea because I don't think it will help them change their ways and I also don't think they will care much about it.

I support this because I am a procrastinator, and it would force me to get on and do things early on. however, most students take online classes because they are expecting a go-at-your-own-pace type of class.

I had a hard time bringing myself to do the homework until the day before or day it was due, so I think it could be helpful putting weekday deadlines. 

I have a lot of things I have to do from taking care of family member most of ge week and that changes day to day and have the Sunday deadline helps me out that incase my family member needed me help on a Tuesday or Thursday or any day I can still be able to get my work done on time.

I think that as long as students are getting the work done on time then there isn't a reason to add additional deadlines. If a student is struggling to do all of their work for the week because they try to do it all in one day, then maybe for that specific student it would be beneficial to require more logins and more deadlines.

Scheduling flexibility is one of the only things asynchronous online classes offer over in person or synchronous online classes. If you're going to start cutting into that flexibility, it seems like you should only offer synchronous classes instead. 

No need to make it more complicated. Let the students complete assignments as they please

Most courses I have taken so far offered some type of extra credit. I would say I completed the available extra credit about 65% of the time. Most of the extra credit was put towards whatever category held the most weight on the grade.

A couple of my classes this term gave extra credit, which was 2 papers for one class, and a mini quiz to check for understanding on the syllabus. For both of those classes, each extra credit was worth 5%. A little is better than nothing in my opinion. I would definitely do the extra credit assignments.

i think extra credit is a good option. many other of my teachers offer it

I have had on average about half of my college classes offer extra credit. I have not always taken advantage of the extra credit but I have always appreciated that it was there if I wanted to take advantage of it. It just depended on how I was doing in the class throughout the term and if I felt like I needed a boost for my final grade. Most commonly, I have seen extra credit assignments that are short essays or reviews on a specific topic, book, or article. There were usually only 1-3 extra credit opportunities throughout the term. In my experience, turning in an extra credit assignment had the potential to bump my grade up by a letter grade, depending on how well I did on the assignment.

I don't think this class needs EC, otherwise I would have asked for it.

I have taken a writing class and a French class that offered extra credit opportunities. In the writing class, I wrote an extra essay and earned an A in the class. I have not taken any of the offered extra credit options in my French class because I already have an A.

I don't think extra credit is needed, and it gives students the idea that they don't need to take time studying, or worry about their performance on tests, because they have the backup of extra credit. 

Most of the classes I've taken at LCC don't offer extra credit and I myself am neutral towards it. Extra Credit itself doesn't affect your grade too much anyways. What would affect it more is just doing good in the class.

I usually only do extra credit if I am falling behind/think I am going to get a D.

My psychology and basic communication class both offered extra credit. I think it is helpful for the students who are lacking a decent grade and are given the opportunity to at least a higher score in the class. 

Papers and forum posts. 

There were 2 extra credit opportunities

It was 5-15 points depending. They helped raise the overall grade in the class. 

I think even offering students to do extra credit on something they are struggling with in the class or having trouble understanding so they can spend more time researching it and it could possibly help their grade with the exam by understanding things better and the professor can see exactly what they are struggling with. 

Most classes I have taken don't offer extra credit

I really would of like the extra credit chance in this class to get my grade up higher, maybe you could have us watch a movie and them write about what we learned in the documentary that you assigned us or even have us write a report on a person we learned about in class. It would be best to do it 1-2 and in other class I have it that we can do test correction and get 1/3 of the points added back to our test maybe you can do that for exams. We would get about 1 week to completed it.

I think that extra credit isn't necessary.

I've been in some math classes and some humanities classes that have offered extra credit. The extra credit in the humanities classes were usually about going to some event that relates to the class on your own time, and writing a quick paper about it.  Some of the math classes offered extra credit for students to explain their solutions to homework problems on the board in front of the class. Usually extra credit can be worth up to three or five percent of the final grade. I've seen teachers go as high as a 10 percent cap, but only in classes where the extra credit opportunities are central to the structure of the class. I've also seen classes that allow you to do exam corrections, to make up some of the points you lost.  I think it's better to have a bunch of opportunities for a really small amount of extra credit for engaging more, or peer cooperation than having one opportunity for a lot of extra credit through some project. Maybe something like offering a google calendar where students can schedule study groups, and giving some sort of attendance link kids can use. If the study group was on the calendar, more than one kid showed up, and the kids that showed up stayed for at least 20 minutes, you could throw them each a point or two of extra credit. Maybe you only credit up to two study group meetings a week or something. I think incentivizing habitual stuff is more valuable than incentivizing one off stuff. 

Don't offer it to students above a B-

Zoom can be a useful tool but I'm not the biggest fan of zoom for classes like this. Especially since we don't have any in person mettings.

I prefer low use, mainly because I work Mon-Fri, so during the week I don't have time to jump on a zoom call for class, that is why I prefer taking online classes. My math class last term was on zoom every class day. Monday, wednesday, and friday. Even if we were not able to get on the zoom call, it was recorded so we were able to go back and re-watch what was done in class that day, which I thought it was great. For exams, we would have to get onto zoom and once everyone was on the exam would get sent out. Once turned in, and our professor confirmed she received it, then we were able to get off of zoom. The only problem I had with that is that I felt rushed while taking the exam. We did not have to have our camera's on and we were kept on mute, but you can see when people get off of zoom and that indicated they were done with their test. That's the only problem I had.

i dont think zoom meetings are very beneficial 

I think the beauty of an online class is that it is flexible and do-able for people that have to work or have a busy schedule and can't attend a class in the traditional sense. An online class makes it so that students can do their school work at a time that is most convenient for them which ultimately sets them up for success. Having the option for a weekly zoom meeting/lecture (that is also recorded for those that are unable to attend) is a great compromise for those students that want an "in person" feel to the class, but it also still has the flexibility of an online class that so many people (myself included) take advantage of.

It's just my personal preference.

Some zoom class stuff can be helpful when you are reading so much but the video documentaries also help with this.

I like to work at my own pace and do not feel that I require Zooms for my instruction and learning style.

I would not take any online class that requires zoom. In my experience I've found zoom only wastes my time, lectures only repeat what I've learned in the course material, and takes up time out of my school schedule. 

I mainly like Online classes because it allows me to have more time for work/leisure.

i take online classes to get away from mandatory meeting times and I assume most other students do as well.

I think have a mandatory zoom meeting once or twice a week would be a great idea. That way it makes people even more accountable and they have the option to bring up a topic or subject from that current or previous week and it would be the same as a class setting. 

It can be hard to schedule zooms so that it works for everyone.

I dont really like zoom classes but i know some people can find it helpful in classes that they are struggling with so have a time that teacher set aside for them to drop by wont hurt.

There's a lot of room to benefit from more direct engagement, but if you're going to have mandatory attendance, you should probably just run a synchronous course instead.

Nah

I do not know of any other web based tools.

not really, i like google docs

I used a website called "Perusall" in one of my science classes that I thought was really cool. This website was a way for us to read our textbook and highlight and comment/question on different parts of the text as we read that everyone in the class, including the professor, could see and reply to. It was a really great way for us to connect as a class to the assigned readings, and the professor was able to track our progress throughout the reading as well. This might be a good addition to the readings that are assigned in this class.

I can't think of any others apps.

No, Moodle is fine.

Quizlet helps me study, but I don't think it would work for a class. I think the google doc is a better idea. 

I'm not aware of any.

InQuizitive is used for my psychology class and it was a really awesome website for taking tests and it even helped you study more. I feel this would be a great way for students to fully utilize this class. 

I prefer the textbook options that we had this term.

I like the fact that we have to buy the textbook, I don't mind at all having to spend money on it because it's specifically for the class and easy to access rather than having to surf the web and do all the extra. I haven't taken a class that used free online materials.

no i havent had a class with free materials but i wish i did

I would be happy to use only online materials if it meant that they were free. College is expensive enough so anytime we can save some money is ideal. I would be ready and willing to print my own materials if need be and I would be able to keep websites organized. I have taken many classes that have used only free, online materials and it has worked really well for me. I think that it could work well for a class like this as well. There are so many great free resources out there for learning the history of the U.S. including videos as well. However, I did really enjoy the textbook that we bought for this class. It was very easy to read and understand, so that was definitely a positive.

I am fully ready for it, information should not be gatekept through paywalls. ALL of the online classes I have taken that used OERs were fantastic and I would not be surprised if more instructors went on that bandwagon.

I don't mind finding information online and I think it's easier because you can open a lot of tabs and save pages for later.

I am willing to buy a textbook. I prefer all my sources to be in one place (on one website) so I do not need to jump from source to source. I am fine with either a hardback or online textbook.

I've taken OER courses, and it's very helpful not having to purchase a textbook. 

I think it depends on the class. For example the textbook/Mindtap for this class wasn't too expensive, but my textbook and workbook for Anatomy and Physiology was over $400!! That's ridiculous....robbery as far as I'm concerned. 

I usually drop a class if I am required to pay more than 50 dollars for a class, I just really needed one more class and did not have much luck finding another one.

I think it depends on the type of class it is. For my basic communication class we were provided with a free online textbook and it worked well for that class. In this history class though, i think having the paperbook back works best (i would print my chapter out each week), because it allows you to have it right in front of you, its easy to access pages and go back and forth when studying and you can even write notes in your book as you're reading it. 

I think the way that it is set up now works well. Although I do like when classes offer an online free textbook.

I like the online because i learn by audio and have it read to me really helps me understand more.

I would rather use free resources than pay for a textbook. Maybe if you save the online resources and send out copies of the saved pages instead of sending out links, you might be able to get past the dead link problem and the need for constant internet  access to engage with the material.  Maybe there's some sort of intellectual property issue with that, but the problem sounds more like a bureaucratic problem than a technical one. If students had PDFs of the reading materials, we probably wouldn't need to worry too much about access to printers. 

Provided web links are preferred by every student

I'm glad I took this course, I learned a lot more than I thought I was going to learn about history. I would take the class again to get a better grade, but overall I thought this was a great class. And thank you for being a great professor!!

I think the only thing I would add is maybe some sort of a community aspect to the class. Such as a class forum of some kind that we can comment on weekly. I think this would help create a community aspect to the class. But it was a great class and I recommended to my friend for next term and she has registered for it already. I think she will really enjoy it!

I can't think of any other questions.

The reason why I would not recommend this course is because of the frustrations I experienced with regard to MindTap. But, I did enjoy the overall concepts and the period of history that we studied.

Having the studyguide sectioned by chapter instead of alphabetically would help me find the information in my notes easier, being more efficient and allowing more time to study rather than dig. 

Video transcripts would be nice but if it's too big of a hassle, no big deal.

I don't think I have any other recommendations other than looking into InQuizitive. I feel i struggled more in this class than i have with any other class, and mostly because of the textbook. Other than that, you as the professor were extremely helpful, informative and stayed up to date with grades and were able to be contacted easily.